The Wandering Swordsman
by Exorelix
Summary: A boy who carried a crimson bladed sword wandered the lands, seemingly without purpose. He was a man of few words, and held no emotion in his eyes. One day, he set his sights on the country known as the Empire, not knowing of the corruption within. Though it wasn't the first time he faced such evil.(Slightly OP OC)
1. Chapter 1

The Empire.

It is not a place for the innocent, or the naive.

Filled to the brim with corruption and injustice, it is truly a hell for those who simply wished to lead a peaceful life.

Its people oppressed, its government corrupted and completely lack any humanity, it's a wonder how the country hasn't fallen already.

Or perhaps not, considering its fearsome military might and its power over everything the people own, through violence and fear.

And at the center of it all, the Capital.

The source of all this malevolence, came from the despicable, dishonorable, inhuman being that the nation know as Prime Minister Honest.

His name itself, such irony.

Ruling from the shadows by tricking the Emperor, who is only a naive child, brainwashed by the prime minister, into not knowing the suffering he brought to the kingdom he rule.

Even those who lived on the outer lands, far from the Capital, far from the corruption, are still plagued by the dangers of Danger Beasts, ferocious creatures that roam the land, with a taste for human flesh.

The Empire is truly a hellish place, surely no one from the outside would dare to step in, lest they expect an unfortunate end.

Of course, that wasn't always the case.

_

Deep in the forest, a lone merchant was traveling through the thick forest in his cart with his wife, his horse walking at a slow pace, while humming a tune that only he was familiar with, completely unaware of the shadows that were lurking behind the trees, watching his every move, and preparing to strike at the right moment.

It all happened so fast.

"Look what we have 'ere, boys! Seems like we hit jackpot!" The bandit leader shouted to his comrades. They were tearing apart every box that they could find inside the cart, while looking for anything worth stealing. Meanwhile, the merchant was helpless in his tied up position, his face bruised and his clothes covered with a familiar red liquid.

"P-please, spare my wife!! Take whatever you want, do whatever you want to me, but don't harm her!!!" The merchant pleaded for mercy. He didn't care if his belongings were all ransacked, but he couldn't bear to see his loved one ravaged by these people.

Meanwhile, a couple of bandits were holding his wife hostage, and getting dangerously close to molesting her, as she was trying and helplessly failing to fight back, before stopped by their leader.

"Hold it boys!! Seems like our friend here wants a little chat." The leader said. The other bandits stopped what they were doing, while he walked towards the merchant, a smile plastered on his face.

Then, he said to the merchant's face," You think you're in control here? Sorry buddy, but we do whatever the hell we want, and no one's gonna fuckin' stop us!! Ain't that right boys!?" "Hell Yeah!!!" The bandits all happily answered their leader's question.

The man continued," How about this, since you loved your precious little doll so much, we gonna give her a view she won't forget!! Keep her eyes open! We gonna do a little show!!" The two bandits brought the woman to her knees, and forced her watery eyes open to look at her husband. Her eyes widen as she saw the man from earlier bring out a knife and slowly bringing it to her husband's neck, with a clearly obvious goal in mind.

"NOOOO!! Please, DON'T!!!" She cried out, begging for the man-no, monster in front of her to stop, unwilling to see her husband's blood spilling on the floor. The bandit leader's smile widen much more, and the merchant slowly closed his eyes, accepting his fate and repeatedly murmurs apologies to his wife, even though she couldn't hear it.

And just before the knife could touch the merchant's neck, the most unexpected thing happened.

The bandit leader's hand dropped on the floor, the knife still grasped in its fingers. Blood was already flowing out.

It took a while for everyone to compute what just happened.

"EEAAAARRGGH!! What the fuck!! My HAND!!!" The leader cried out to the top of his lungs, while his comrades just stared, but not at him.

They were staring at a stranger, who just seemingly appeared in the middle of the whole thing.

A teenager, with jet black, messy, short hair that seemingly flows to the back of his head. A seemingly youthful face, with bangs covering his forehead. Bright yellow eyes. A dull red scarf around his neck. A dull grey knee-length trenchcoat that looked worn, with a white shirt underneath. A pair of dark blue trousers with slightly torn edges, and a pair of grey sandals to complete the look.

The boy would've looked completely ordinary, if it weren't for those yellow eyes.

Not to mention the sword with a blade the colour of blood, grasped in his left hand.

Nobody dared made a move. Time seemed to stand completely still. Everything was completely silent for a whole minute, until said silence was broken by the voice of the bandit leader, still clutching his bloodied arm.

"Well what the fuck are you idiots waiting for!? GET HIM!!!" The bandits hastily pulled out their weapons, and began charging towards the boy, trying to overwhelm him with their numbers.

Obviously, it didn't work.

The boy dashed forward, slashing through every single bandit only once, then moving to the next. Blood flew everywhere. Just not the boy's blood.

It all happened so fast.

10 bodies, littered on the soil. All in less than 5 seconds.

To say the leader was shocked, would be an understatement. He had felt fear many times in his life before. The time he was abandoned by his parents, the first time he killed another person, and the first time he met a Danger Beast.

But this, they all pale in comparison to what he was feeling now. This boy, is not human. Those yellow eyes, eyes that stare right into your soul. And the worst part?

He looked completely **calm** throughout the whole deal.

No signs of fear, or hatred, or even pleasure from the fight. Just the same, blank stare.

It scared him, **terrified** him completely to the core.

He heard a gush of wind, and his vision started fading.

"Wha..." So were his thoughts. The last thing he saw, was those yellow eyes. And then everything went black.

The leader's head rolled on the dirty soil, his headless body collapsed right after.

The merchant, who was still tied up, was completely silent throughout the whole thing. He was too petrified, by the display in front of him. A teenager managed to kill off a group of bandits, in less than 5 seconds. And it doesn't even looked like he was trying.

The teenager slowly walked up to the merchant, and cut the binds off him. He rushed and hugged his wife, who was still too shocked to speak. Turning to the teenager, who had already sheathed his sword, he uttered,"...thank you. For everything."

The boy gave a blank stare, and merely walked away. The merchant was a bit surprised by this, and said," W-wait! Where are you going? Don't you want anything in return? I could give you some gold coins! I-is that good enough?" The boy stopped in his tracks, and looked back.' So he does want money after all,' the merchant thought.

After receiving a bag of gold coins, the boy slowly nodded,probably his own way of thanking, and walked away once more." Wait!! Where are you going? Is there somewhere you need to be?" The merchant asked, hoping for an answer.

However, the boy just kept walking, as if he didn't hear the merchant. His wife, who had finally broke out of her shock, asked her husband,"Wh-Who is he?" The merchant only gave a dissapointing answer."I...I don't know. Never seen him before. Perhaps he's not from here. A wanderer, possibly. He...he didn't even tell us where he's going...come to think of it, he never even spoke one bit." Was the boy a mute, is he simply too shy? Or something much more personal? So many thoughts lingered in the merchant's head.

The boy kept walking, away from the two, until he vanished from their view.

An enigma, that's what he was.

In the boy's head, there was...nothing.

He wasn't thinking of anything in particular, just wandering around, trying to look for something interesting to do.

He thought back to the couple earlier, why he saved them, because it was simply the right thing to do, no questions asked. Besides, there wasn't anything better to do, honestly. He even got some money from it.

If anything, he felt a bit bored. The fight surely was underwhelming.

If one were to look at him right now, they would have mistaken him for a walking corpse. His blank face held no emotion whatsoever.

He had heard of the Empire before. A massive country with a powerful military force, so much so that no other country dared to attack them. But other than that, nothing else. It's probably because he didn't really care that much about it before, that he had so little information regarding it. So now he decided to take a visit.

So far there's nothing interesting going on for him yet. So he kept his pace, going to where fate might take him.

But all that might change soon.


	2. Chapter 2

He was silent in his thoughts. He always is.

Walking through the thick forest, his view completely overwhelmed by trees and insects alike. He was careful in his steps, avoiding every sharp rock, every fallen branch, every rotten fruit, as if he was going on some sort of stealth mission.

He wasn't. He was just used to walking like this.

He heard a rumbling sound, a sign that it is time for lunch. Speaking of lunch...

A fraction of a second was all it took. The headless corpse of a bird that just happened to fly by him kissed the ground,fresh red liquid oozing out.

He sheathed his crimson blade without even moving his head, and began picking up some fallen branches nearby to prepare a bonfire.

A bird isn't much, but it'll do for him. He never eat much, usually only until his own stomach had received its hourly demand. A simple bowl of soup would suffice as dinner for someone like him. He had however, met people who can eat a lot, like A LOT. He once met a hunter who can eat **5** bowls of noodles without breaks. Truly a monster. He couldn't imagine anybody being able to eat more than that. Except maybe a Danger Beast.

Speaking of Danger Beasts, he wondered why they were named that way. What kind of person thought "Danger Beast" sounded like a suitable name for identifying a species? He may be a silent person, but he does have his iwn opinion on certain things. "Danger Beast" just sounded...unoriginal, cheesy perhaps. Why not name them Xenomorphs, or Kaijus, or anything more unique.

He just made those names up.He had no idea what they meant, but they did sound cool.

A suspicious sound broke him out of his thoughts. A sound coming from beneath the ground he was on.

Acting on instinct, he gripped the hilt of his sword, preparing to strike. His face remained passive as always,but every single fibre of his body was tense.

The sound becomes louder, and louder...until it becomes weaker again, and eventually faded away. It could stil be faintly heard getting farther away from his current position.

Guess the Beast changed its mind. That, or it found a more suitable prey.

His feet sprang into action, his eyes focused on where the Beast will turn up. The Beast was fast, that was for sure. But it can't run forever.

A few seconds later, he detected the faint sound of a horse, which usually meant there are people as well. His suspicions were proven correct when he heard the voices of a couple of men, merchants perhaps, screaming for their lives at the sight of an earth dragon, the Danger Beast he had been chasing earlier.

He sheathed his sword, its crimson blade menacingly glowing as if seeking blood, ready to dismember the Beast and decapitate it.

Or at least that's what he thought he was about to do. Turns out he never needed to do anything.

A young boy with brown hair and a sword in his hands cut off one of the gigantic arms of the Beast, before uttering some words about meeting a worthy opponent and proceeding to cut the Beast apart.

The boy was skilled, he will admit that. Too slow, perhaps, but skilled nonetheless. Given a few more years of training, and he will be a truly fine warrior.

As the corpse of the Beastfell to the ground, the two merchants earlier praised the boy in front of them for saving their lives. The boy deserved at least that much after the fight, as short as it was.

The boy replied with a prideful tone, his face and body posture obviously trying to show off a bit of ego, hinting at a slight arrogance. Even the two merchants earlier seemed like they wanted to take back what they said.

His eyes widen just a little bit when he heard something interesting, regarding the boy's destination. He wanted to go the capital, just like he is. Then something else caught his interest.

The two merchants suddenly held a serious expression, and told the boy about how there were far worse monsters in the capital. The boy was confused, mistaking what they were implying that there were also Danger Beasts in the capital. Ah, he's naive as well. Probably had been sheltered all his life in the countryside. He of course knew what the merchants meant. Now he was even **more** interested in going to the capital.

Of course, the boy disregarded what the merchants said and continued his path, saying some stuff about saving his village or something, obviously clueless of what he was going to face down the road.

Poor boy, perhaps he should follow him, just to make sure he could at least make it to the capital alive. But then again, the boy does have skill with a sword, so maybe he could handle himself.

Come to think of it, the boy looked like he actually knew where he was going. **He **on the other hand, had been wandering around for a while, just looking for something interesting to do.

He probably should've asked the merchant he saved before for directions so he didn't get lost like this. But he was never quite the talker. He could count on one hand the number of times he had actually talked the whole week he's been traveling.

So in the end, he decided to follow the boy. By walking behind him without the boy realizing it, in his ever so quiet footsteps.

...minutes passed, and the ignorant boy suddenly fell to the ground. It appeared he tripped on a conveniently placed rock in the middle of the road. Fate can be so cruel sometimes.

"Oww...what the heck...Eh?" The brown haired boy looked back to where he was walking before he tripped, and saw **him**.

Black hair, red scarf, dull grey trenchcoat, dark blue trousers, grey sandals, a suspicious looking sword, and yellow eyes.

**Those cold, menacing, yellow eyes.**

The boy eventually broke out of his stupor, and vocally announced his surprise.

"W-wait, who the HECK are you!??"

His question was answered with the same lifeless stare.

**He** simply pointed to himself, and then to the direction that they were both heading.

It took a few seconds for the boy to finally understand, which was impressive for someone like him. Not a lot of people could actually understand him, since he rarely, if ever, speak at all.

"Ohh...you wanted to go the capital too? Wait a minute...have you been following me all this time!?"

And five minutes later, he was now walking beside the naive boy, heading towards the same place.

"...so uhh...anyway, my name's Tatsumi! What's yours?"

Silence.

"...umm, ok. Well, can you tell me why you wanted to go the capital? Are you trying to join the army? I mean, you looked pretty skilled with that sword."

"...well, I wanted to go because I needed money for my village. Our village was experiencing lack of food because it was winter there. It wasn't just me though, there were three of us initially. There was Ieyasu, and Sayo as well. We were best friends, and we all wanted to set out to the capital to earn money and save our village, but then we got attacked by bandits and we've been separated ever since...come to think of it, it's been a while sinceI last saw them...I wonder if they're okay...um, I'm getting far off track, am I? Heh heh~, anyway-HEY! Are you even listening?"

The whole time the boy named named Tatsumi was telling his life story, **he** merely kept walking with his eyes forward, never looking anywhere else. It's like he was ignoring him.

Tatsumi was getting weirded out by this guy. He walked like a robot, every step in uniform motion. Even his breath was steady and silent, so silent it doesn't sound like he was breathing at all. And his eyes. Nuff said.

This guy is really creepy.

And Tatsumi was getting annoyed by it too.

"...well, FINE!! If you want to play the quiet game, then it's fine-"

"Kai."

"-by me! I don't want to talk-wait what?"

"My name is Kai."

So he CAN talk? Tatsumi was beginning to think his vocal cords might be broken.

"So..uh...Kai, then? Okay..."

And that was the only sentence "Kai" had uttered throughout their trip. The duo went silent from that point, contemplating in their own thoughts.

Though one thing's for sure, things are going to get very interesting**.**

**Author's Note**

**So, uh...this was originally supposed to be a one-shot. The idea for this story came to me one day, and I couldn't get it off my mind since.**

**To be honest, I don't really have plans for this story. I don't know which direction to go from the original storyline, and how I'm going to finish this story, if possible. Assuming people actually liked this story, I'll keep posting new chapters whenever I can. But don't expect me to update frequently. I'll only write a new chapter if I feel like it, and even this one just came to my head by sheer luck when I decided to re-read the first chapter.**

**Sorry if there were some grammar mistakes here and there, English isn't really my first language. And I also apologize for any spelling errors or ugly formats, I'm currently writing this story on my phone, so it's kinda hard to get used to the interface.**

**Hope you enjoyed my story so far, and ciao.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Wooaaahh!! AWESOME!!! So THIS is the imperial capital!?"

Tatsumi vocally expressed his awe and excitement, gathering attention of some bypassers who weregoing about their daily lives.

'Must be a village kid', they all thought.

"It's so cool! Cooler than I first thought!! Hey Kai, are you see-"

Tatsumi turned to his only company throughout his whole trip to reach the capital, only to be met with, you guessed it, the same emotionless face.

'Yep, this guy cannot be human.' Tatsumi thought to himself.

Kai was impressed by the architectural design of the whole city, but that's it. He wasn't paying attention to the authentic look of the capital.

Instead, he was rapidly scanning at the buildings to look for anything that signifies the word "restaurant".

It took a while before reaching the capital that Kai realized he hadn't eaten anything since this morning. The bird that he was busy roasting at the bonfire earlier and then forgot about since he was busy chasing a certain earth dragon before, had probably been eaten by some other lucky animal or wanderer that stumbled by.

So Kai took off abruptly, looking for a nice place that serves good food, leaving Tatsumi in the dust.

He didn't even say goodbye.

Tatsumi was left speechless at what had transpired.

'Did-did that guy literally just DUMPED me!?'

Tatsumi was offended, but kept his thoughts to himself. That guy, Kai probably had some more important things to do. After all, he himself had his own goal for reaching here.

"I'm gonna make enough money here, and then I will save my village! But first, I need to look for the barracks. Once they saw my swordmanship skills, they'll surely give me a high position in the military." Tatsumi spoke to himself, a bit too loudly perhaps, since a certain blonde woman who happened to be sipping a drink nearby had probably heard him, and have begun hatching a rather nefarious plan to trick this unsuspecting outsider.

**Meanwhile...**

Kai was busy convincing a red haired waitress that all he wanted was a bowl of chicken soup, and a glass of water.

Of course the waitress thought his order was a bit absurd, since this was a five star restaurant after all.

Everyone came here to experience luxurious, exotic cuisines that mere peasants would never be able to taste, and then there's this guy, asking for soup.

"Um...of course, thank you for you order, sir." The waitress just assumed that he was probably on diet and took his order.

After his soup and water was finally served, Kai indulged in his meal.

Except the way he eats made even some of the customers there stare in curiosity.

Dip the spoon into the soup. Take a spoonful. Put it in the mouth. Swallow. Repeat for one minute. Reach for glass. Take a sip. Swallow. Put the glass back. Repeat from the first step.

That's the most accurate way to describe it. He eats so, **normally**. A very active person with lots of caffeine in their system would go asleep just watching him eat.

He walks, reacts, and eats like a robot.

After finishing his meal, Kai paid the waitress some coins while nodding, and walked out of the restaurant, with his usual uniform footsteps.

He spent the rest of the evening wandering around the city, just looking at random things.

He was getting quite bored of watching the same looking citizen walking by, or the same looking shop lined on the streets, until he noticed something peculiar.

Three wanted posters on a brick wall, each with three different names. From the way the posters look, it's aparent the people displayed in there were criminals wanted by the government. But each one of them share the same title.

Night Raid.

"You're new from around here, are ya?" An unknown voice came from behind where Kai was facing. It was the voice of an old man, possibly just passing by earlier and saw him staring at those posters.

Kai rose an eyebrow, the first time he had shown some form of emotion since coming to the capital, seemingly prompting the old man to continue.

"Night Raid, that's what the government calls them. Don't know much myself, but I heard they're very skilled assassins. Well, that's what I thought since their presence had alarmed the entire capital. Been seeing more and more of the police patrolling around here everyday. These are troubling times indeed." The old man continued. Kai was intrigued, to say the least. But then, the old man spoke once more.

"However, I wouldn't say Night Raid is bad. They seemed to be on the Revolutionary Army's side, since all that's been targeted so far were government officials. Those corrupt scum. I say they deserved what's coming for them. But don't say that out loud in the public. The police might think you're a rebel as well."

Rebels? Revolutionary Army? Now Kai had more questions than before. The old man somehow realized what he was thinking, as he continued again.

"You...must've been living far in the countryside, haven't you? There's a civil war going on right now. A group of rebels calling themselves the Revolutionary Army wants to overthrow the leadership. Though they ain't much of an army, really. At least not compared to the imperial army. But ever since Night Raid's been around...well the government is getting quite concerned that the capital isn't as ,"peaceful", as it used to be. Though if you ask me, it wasn't that much better before anyways. So don't be surprised if you see a lot of patrols here in the capital."

Feeling he had heard enough, Kai simply nodded to the old man, and walked away in a steady pace.

The old man however, was busy thinking to himself. 'Those eyes...they're the eyes of a killer. I've seen plenty of those in my younger time. And that sword...it doesn't feel like an ordinary weapon at all...could it be...a Teigu?'

...it was nighttime.

During this time, some have already closed their shops and went to their beds for a good night sleep. Others still hanging out at bars, drinking with their buddies to their hearts' content, and then there are certain people silently moving through the night, possibly for some shady business.

And there was a lone wanderer, lying on the top of a roof. Looking at the night sky.

More specifically, the stars.

He always liked looking at the stars.

From what his father said, each of those stars have their own stories, and he believed stars represent those who have passed away, who then became fixed celestial objects on the sky, their lights staring back down on the earth, as if watching over those still alive on this world.

Of course, he didn't actually believe in all that. He just liked watching stars because they made him feel...at peace. Like there's nothing to worry about in the world.

But if his father was actually right about what he said, then he would still feel sort of...happy about it. Because that would mean his father was watching over him now.

Come to think of it, it's been a while since he left Tatsumi alone this afternoon. He wondered how the kid would take care of himself.

He didn't mean to leave the kid behind just like that, he was just so focused on finding a way to quench his hunger that he completely forgot about his companion.

'Eh, he'll be fine.' Kai mused to himself.

He was about to fall asleep, until he heard the muffled sound of a woman, down below.

He quickly sprang into action.

Speaking of the woman...

"Hm-mph!! Hmmph-mph!!" The young lady with red hair was trying desperately to shout for help, but the massive hand covering her mouth wasn't letting that to happen. Two sinister looking guys were admiring her looks, and the large man holding her still held a large grin on his face.

"Heh heh heh..the boss is gonna reward us big time for this. Just look at this little doll." The big man spoke in confidence.

One of the men responded," Yo Jiggs, we should be careful with the girl. The boss said to bring the chick unharmed, didn't he?"

"Yeah he did, **but** he never said we couldn't have our own share of fun, did he?" the man's grin widen some more, while one of his hands started to run down the girl's figure. The two men started to laugh,agreeing on what the man named Jiggs had just said. The girl however, could only whimper in sorrow, tears forming in her eyes, thinking about how she was going to lose her virginity to these ravenous monsters. Her watery eyes were closed shut, as she could feel the man's hand slowly unbuttoning her dress.

As you could already expect at this moment, the most unexpected thing(for the rapists anyway) happened.

The man named Jiggs now had a sharp piece of metal sticking out his forehead between his eyes, blood dripping out of the wound. A second later, the metal removed itself, and his face was filled with his own blood, as he fell down backwards to the floor, no longer breathing, letting go of the girl he held hostage earlier.The girl backed up to a nearby wall, also shocked at what had transpired.

The two remaining perverted scum set their gazes on a stranger with a red scarf, and** yellow eyes**. He was holding a sword, its blade strangely red in colour.

Wasting no time, the two quickly drew out their knives and dashed towards the stranger. To no avail.

She felt a gush of wind, and the two men fell to the ground, their heads no longer attached to their bodies. The stranger was moving so fast, he seemed like a mere blur. Then he sheathed his sword, even though the blade was still stained with blood.

She was too afraid to say anything, simply staring at the stranger in front of her. Time passed by, and it eventually dawned upon her that she knew who this stranger was.

It was the weird guy she served in the restaurant earlier this afternoon.

It's as though fate decided to play with her, how the peculiar weirdo she tried to stay away from, ended up becoming the person whom she now owed her life to.

And just like that, he jumped to the rooftops, and left. Not even a goodbye. Not even looking back as a sign of acknowledgement. He just dumped her there after seemingly saving her life.

Honestly, she felt saddened. She couldn't even thank him.

Back on the rooftops...

Kai watched with his usual blank expression from afar as the redhead he saved earlier rushed to her home safely.i

Good. He was a bit worried she might encounter more problems. Though he didn't show it.

He looked at his sword, silently.

'You really wouldn't let me rest for one day, huh?'

He had held onto Shinku for so long, he felt as if he had it his whole life. It was a gift, or a curse, depending on one's perspective. Though in his eyes, it were much more of a burden, a responsibility he had to bear with for the rest of his life.

He had not lived a single day without killing something, or someone, with the blade he gripped in his hand.

Feeling that his eyelids were starting to feel heavy, he decided to finally settle on the rooftop.

Kai was used to sleeping like this. He stll had the money to get comfy in a bed, mind you, but he had always preferred to sleep under the stars.

He started to analyze his current situation.

Right now he's in the capital of possibly the most powerful empire in this continent, where a civil war is going on between the government and the so called "Revolutionary Army", trying to overthrow the former's grip on this country, with a band of assassins simply called "Night Raid" as their greatest weapon against them.

Night Raid.

He's interested in meeting them, wanted to further understand their cause. Why they are taking part in this war.

And if the old man was telling the truth, then he might actually have a role in this war. Which meant it wouldn't be boring.


	4. Chapter 4

A lone crow flew across the wind, free from the dangers down below. For the crow, the sky was its paradise, where it freely flapped its wings crossing the trees and houses below it.

The crow wondered how life would be if it was never born with wings, doomed to survive the harsh life on the earth,where nasty predators mostly reside.

The crow felt itself getting hungry, and thought about scavenging for a piece of fruit that is still fresh for consumption. It worries not for anything, save fo

How unfortunate, for unknown to the crow, its thought of having a meal shall be its last, for a simple gush of wind separated its head from its body, its wings no longer flapping, its corpse brought down to the earth by gravity.

How unfortunate indeed.

Kai sheathed Shinku and went to look for the bird he killed earlier. It's not much, but it's plenty as breakfast. After grabbing the lifeless avian, he leapt across rooftops and and began looking for a suitable place to start a bonfire.

While cooking the bird, Kai thought about his plans for today. So far, the capital seemed rather peaceful, if you want to call it that. He had seen the police force obviously abusing their power over the lesser civilians, even so far as capturing and imprisoning those who so much as talked back at them.

Of course, Kai didn't simply stood back and watched. He rushed in and knocked out both the guards who were taking the innocent civilian into custody. After telling the civilian to run away, he leaped back onto the rooftops and away from the public. All in the blink of an eye.

Which is why instead of simply spending his coins on buying himself a breakfast, he assumed it would be better to just cook himself one. He was sure the guards earlier didn't see his face, so it's unlikely he would be plastered on the wall anytime soon, but you could never be too careful.

Only his second day in the capital, and Kai thought he had already made a reputation for himself. Well, he was already used to this really.

After finishing the bird he roasted earlier, Kai decided to head back to the capital to look for clues, primarily regarding Night Raid. Perhaps he could storm the police station to look for any intel regarding the band of assassins.

Or perhaps he only needed to wait until night. Considering their name, Night Raid would probably carry out their operations on the capital often during nighttime, and he could possibly intercept them during one of their missions. But that would mean he had to stay awake for the duration of the night on the lookout for this mysterious group.

Speaking of mysterious...

Faint sounds of clashing swords caught Kai's attention, apparently originating from a dark alleyway not far from where he was now. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he stopped and observed the situation from above. Five males, all of them wearing Imperial Police uniforms and armed with swords, and a young raven-haired girl whose clothes are in tatters, currently facing the former five, with a bloodied knife in hand.

He spotted another imperial police member laying on the floor, blood oozing from his neck.

The girl seemed no older than 15, based on her physique. From what Kai had surmised, she managed to take down one of the police members, probably by surprise, and was now at a disadvantage against the remaining 5. She had some bruises and cuts on her arms and face, and was currently panting heavily, but still looked like she could fight. The other guys, however, doesn't seem like they were threatened in the slightest. Their faces held grins, a sense of pride and desire evident, which was never a good thing.

"You...you bastards..." The girl began to talk, a hint of anger present in her tone. "Mom...Dad...Nana...all of them are dead...because of YOU!!!"

One of the imperial police, possibly their leader, raised an eyebrow, before replying,"Oh? So you're the daughter of those two merchants who recently came back here before? Funny, I didn't know they actually had a kid. Guess they did more than just making money, huh?"

Her hands started shaking out of anger, and in a split second, the girl slashed at the man in front of her, an attack which was simply blocked by his sword. She slashed at him again, and again, numerous times, to no avail. Her attacks did nothing, and she was getting tired. Seeing her finally slowing down, the man formed a fist and punched her in the face, causing her to drop down her knife and fall to the floor.

"Tch, so weak. If you want to kill someone, at least be good at it. If you want to survive in the capital, you need to be **strong**, stronger than this. It seems your parents' death isn't enough motivation for you yet, huh? You little insect. Maybe I should start framing all your friends next, see how that works out for you."

His words struck deep into her heart. She clenched her teeth and her fists tightened, to the point blood started coming out. She was angry, angry at the monsters who framed her parents and executed them when they were simply trying to make a living, angry at the world for being unfair, but mostly angry at herself, for not being strong enough. Tears started forming in her eyes. She wanted to get up, to pick up the knife and kill those bastards, but she couldn't.

"But don't worry, I'm sure we could find some use for you. You don't look too young, and I know a few people willing to pay for someone with your looks. And you know what? I think me and my friends could have some little "fun" with you, the same way we did with your mother. I still remember the look on that bastard's face seeing his wife like that. Heh heh heh," The men laughed with sinister looks on their faces. She was doomed, that was for sure. She had hoped that she could at least say goodbye to her friends before being taken away as someone's personal plaything. She wished none of this ever happened. She wished she could see her parents again. She wished she could be embraced in her grandmother's arms again.

"Mom...Dad...Nana...I'm sorry..." She said to herself, sniffling. She hoped she could have a chance to be stronger, to be better, but it seems fate wasn't that kind.

"Now...let's see what you-urgh!!" His sentence was stopped short by a sudden pain in his chest. He looked down, to see a crimson blade sticking out of where his heart was supposed to be. The blade suddenly twisted, forcing him to scream in tremendous pain, before it was pulled out, drawing blood everywhere. The man fell to the floor with a hole in his chest, the last thing he ever saw, was a pair of yellow eyes.

The remaining men were shocked at what they were seeing. A black-haired stranger jumped from above and landed right behind their leader before stabbing him in the back, killing him. The stranger was wearing a grey trenchcoat with a white shirt underneath and dark blue trousers, with a dull red scarf wrapped around his neck. In his hands, an odd-looking crimson sword, harboring an ominous glow, as if it was alive.

But what caught their attention the most was his yellow eyes. The eyes of a predator, observing his latest prey.

They kept staring at the stranger in silence. They were too late to react, as the stranger moved first.

The first one had both of his arms chopped off in the blink of an eye, before his own head was disconnected from his body. The second one tried to stab the stranger in the neck, keyword being "tried". His hand which held the sword disconnected from his arm, and before he even had the chance to scream in pain, he felt a metal blade stabbed into his neck, before falling to the floor lifeless. The last remaining two swung their swords at the same time, only to be responded by another swing from the stranger. The sheer force of his blade was so strong, it shattered the two swords upon contact, leaving the two men unarmed. Before they could even react, they heard a gust of wind, and a dozen cuts formed on their bodies. Unable to even move, their bodies made contact with the earth below, while bleeding to their deaths.

All that, in the span of five seconds.

Sheathing back his sword, Kai let out of sigh.

He was upset.

People who have met Kai before thought that he was like a machine, his expressionless face never changing no matter what he did. They thought that Kai could not feel any emotions at all. They were wrong.

Kai indeed CAN feel emotions. He just didn't show it.

And right now, he was upset.

Screw that, he was pissed.

Pissed because he knew who the imperial police members earlier were talking about. The merchant he saved a few days ago, and his wife. They must have been living in the capital for quite some time, eventually settled and had a child. They were probably traveling towards the borders to trade, and the daughter was left behind in the capital while they were away. How she could take care of herself was unknown to him, but everything else started to make some sense.

He hated it when he couldn't save someone from a terrible fate. He hated it when his efforts ended up in vain, when the people he tried to save somehow still ended up meeting their end. He had seen too much of that.

It made him feel like no matter what he did, he couldn't change everything. It made sense in a way. You can't save everyone. The world doesn't work that way.

He was so focused in his thoughts that he forgot there was one other person who witnessed what he had just done.

"Wh-who...are you?" The girl behind him asked weakly, her body was shaking out of fear. Fear of the man in front of her.

The man suddenly started walking towards her, and before she even realized it, picked her up bridal-style and leaped to the walls and then to the roof of a building.

"Wha-? What are you doing!? Let me go!!" Kai ignored the girl's pleas and kept moving. He was lucky there wasn't any people near the alleyway where six bodies now lay on the floor. But he couldn't risk getting caught by any nearby police force patrolling around or any random bypasser at this time of day, and he couldn't just leave this girl behind as well.

After running for minutes, he finally settled on a lonely alley and let the girl off. Picking herself up, she quickly backed up to a wall, still wary of the stranger in front of her. The stranger, however, simply stared at her with a blank expression. He then started to walk away, leaving her just like that.

"W-wait!!"

He stopped in his tracks.

"...thank you. For what you did, back there. If...if you weren't there, I... I don't know what...what would've happened..." Tears escaped her eyes again. She was simply grateful for what had happened. Those bastards were dead, they got exactly what they deserve, all because of this man.

He seemed to realize that, as he turned back to face her, and gave a small nod. After which he started walking away again.

"Huh? W-wait!!" She cried out. He stopped again.

"I...I 've got nowhere else to go. Nana used to take care of me whenever my parents left the town, but now...I've...I've got no one else to go to. I-I couldn't risk my friends' lives if I go to them, so...please, take me with you."

A long silence followed.

"I'll do anything you ask...I'll go wherever you go...I just...I don't know what to do anymore..." She continued again.

Time seemed to stand still between the two.

After what felt like an eternity of silence, the man walked up to the girl, and patted her on the head.

She was surprised by this, but didn't say anything. She looked up to see the man's face. She realized he looked younger than she thought. Possibly only a few years older than herself. He stared into her eyes, and slowly nodded, perhaps as a sign that he accepted her. Her eyes widened, and for the first time, she smiled. She finally lost her composure and buried her face into his chest, crying as much as she could, letting out all the sorrow, all the despair she had built up within.

Kai simply patted her head in silence. The girl has been through a lot, he could understand that.

He contemplated in his own thoughts, analyzing his current situation.

What initially began as a mission for intel ended up with him now becoming the guardian of an orphaned girl who had nowhere to go.

Things might get a bit trickier from now on.

-

**Author's Note**

**So uhh...this chapter was a bit late compared to my previous chapters. Sorry about that.**

**But like I said before, I don't have any schedule for when to post new chapters, and I will only write a new one when I feel like it. So sometimes I will post a new chapter in a few days, sometimes a few weeks, maybe even months. But I won't be abandoning this story, it just takes me a while to get the motivation, much less the idea, to write a new chapter. Again, I'm still not sure how to change the flow and outcome of the story(and I'll be basing this on the anime version,I haven't read the manga), so if you guys have some cool ideas,feel free to post in the comments.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my story so far, and ciao.**


	5. Chapter 5

The night sky is filled with bright stars,whose lights came gazing down upon the earth and its inhabitants, ignorantly minding their own business, living out their lives to survive on this little speck of rock hanging in the infinite sea of blackness that is the void of space.

Among one of these inhabitants, is a silent wanderer looking for dinner up a tree in the middle of a forest, while a certain long raven haired girl wearing a dirty looking robe idly stood down below.

A soft gush of wind was heard, and the corpses of two headless crows kissed the earth, surprising the girl who was wide-eyed at the display.

Kai jumped down and grabbed the two dead avians to a nearby campfire he made earlier to prep them for dinner. The girl silently followed him behind, and watched him work as he plucked the feathers and gutted the organs with the same crimson sword he once used to save her from those imperial bastards back at the capital.

Her thoughts lingered on something in particular, something she hasn't realised since this evening.

"We haven't properly introduced each other, have we?" She voiced out, loud enough for her only company to hear.

They were so busy trying to avoid the imperial police and finding a place to stay away from the capital that they totally forgot they were still technically strangers to one another.

"...my name's Naoki...what's yours?"

Silence.

The only sounds audible were the crackling sounds of the fire and the rustling of leaves in the nearby trees.

"...um...i-if you don't want to tell me, then..it's fine-"

"Kai."

"H-huh?"

What Naoki heard surprised her, because it was the first time she heard his voice, since she first met him.

"So..uh...Kai, then?"

All she got in response was a nod, and the two went silent once more. It was just a short exchange between two strangers trying to know each other. It wasn't much, but it's a start.

The minutes went by, then hours.

Once the birds have been roasted, the two began indulging in their dinner.

Except one of them wasn't quite used to eating bare, unsalted meat.

Naoki had a hard time chewing the roasted meat and swallowing it, as she wasn't used to the taste, and Kai seemed to notice that. She saw the look on his face, and tried to comfort him,"I-it's nothing...I can get used to this..." She missed the spicy chicken soup her Nana used to make back home, but she dismissed the thought. They were gone now, there's no changing that. She knew there was no way she could go back now. It'll only be a matter of time before news of the dead members of the police were spread, and her face could be plastered on the wall at any moment. She wished she could just turn back time, and made sure none of this ever happened.

She tried to hold back her tears from falling while eating the roasted meat in front of her, although she was slowly failing at the former, as Kai noticed her sniffling sounds while munching on his own meat.

Poor girl, she must still be affected by what just happened. He couldn't really blame her for anything, her life turned upside down in such a short time, anyone would be severely traumatized after losing their family. She must be remembering bits of her past, of a time when everything was better.

That, or she **really** didn't like the bird he roasted. How unfortunate. He probably should've taken up the offer from that chef he once met from one of his many adventures. He couldn't even cook a simple omelette. He was so used to simply roasting his meals over a fire without any seasoning or with any complicated recipe that he never thought about learning how to cook actually decent meals.

After finishing his meal, Kai began walking up to a tree and stared at it with intent. Naoki had finished drinking water she scooped out of the river before in a cup, and was curious on what Kai was planning.

Seconds passed, and Kai unsheathed his sword.

His movements turned into a blur, and hundreds of invisible cuts were inflicted upon the tree, but not at its bark. Kai finally sheathed his sword, and all of a sudden, the leaves fell from the branches of the tree to the ground, which Kai gathered afterwards into one big pile.

Naoki was so stunned by his display of skill with the sword, that it took her a while to realize he had just made a bed for her to sleep in.

Laying down on the pile of leaves, she found out it was surprisingly comfortable, but that was probably only due to how tired she was right now. Honestly, she felt like she could even sleep on the ground without any cover. She saw Kai sitting far away from her, near the campfire. His eyes were closed, he looked like he was simply listening to the crackling sounds of the fire. She looked at him thoroughly, his looks, his features, his nature.

He never uttered a single word, except his name. And yet, he was more human than any of those imperial scum she had met back in the capital. Those bastards, they treated everyone from the foreign countries like garbage, viewing them as lower than themselves. Even her parents, who were simply trying to make enough money for the family, became victims of this discrimination. It wounded her heart just thinking back about it, so she tried to forget about it, and her attention went back to her only company for the night.

He was an enigma, an unknown, seemingly coming out of nowhere, and all of a sudden she now owed her life to him. And he never talked, except only once. And yet, she was comfortable with him, somehow. She felt like she could trust him with her life, as weird as that sounds, since they have only known each other for a day. She saw him opening his eyes again and turned towards her, in which she responded, by giving the most truthful smile she could muster.

"Thank you...for everything...you did..." And with that, she felt her eyelids getting heavier, until she finally succumbed to her dreams.

Naoki was asleep.

Kai however, wasn't feeling drowsy in the least.

Seeing her finally asleep, he jumped from tree to tree, making his way back to the capital. He had scouted the whole forest for any signs of Danger Beasts or bandits, and after making sure it was safe to leave her alone, he went on to fulfill his initial plan. Finding Night Raid.

Every leap he made, branch after branch, was done without flaw, making sure he didn't make a single sound, so as to remain invisible and not attract any unwanted attention.

Speaking of attention...

The sounds of what sounds like several suspicious figures dashing through the forest from far away caught the attention of his earbuds. Kai stopped in his tracks, and located the source of the sounds. He then made his way to catch up, whilst remaining hidden in the process.

After minutes of leaping through the trees, Kai stopped and saw with his eyes from far away, a large mansion, and in front of it, an interesting sight to behold.

Several armed bodyguards, presumably guarding the mansion, are practically getting massacred by a hulking figure clad in armor armed with a spear, accompanied by a long raven haired woman wearing dark clothes and armed with a sword. The last remaining bodyguard tried to run off, keyword being "tried", as he too, fell from a single shot to his head, thanks to a certain pink haired girl wearing similarly colored clothes, and holding a large gun. Standing by her side was a green haired man with a matching green jacket, both of them standing on some fine wires several metres above the ground.

It was truly a unique sight. Though it wasn't the weirdest thing he'd ever seen. Unpleasant memories of a certain fishing incident involving a waterspout, came to mind.

This must be it. This must be Night Raid. The ones responsible for striking fear into the heart of the Empire, fighting alongside a rebellion plotting an uprising against the tyranny playing out in this land. Although they were called assassins, from Kai's perspective, that doesn't sound like the most accurate description.

For one, their clothing is horribly undisguised. What kind of assassin wears pink, for god's sake?

Secondly, they didn't do too well to hide their work, and they're not even concealing their identities, save for that one guy in armor. At least that guy seemed like he had some common sense.

Too busy Kai was with his thoughts, that he almost didn't catch a peculiar sight from the corner of his eyes. A familiar brown haired boy with a sword in his back was running away from the mansion. He could've sworn he knew that boy, what was his name again? Takumi? Natsumi?

Eh, it didn't matter. Kai leapt into the lush greens in pursuit of the boy, Naofumi-whatever his name was. His chase came to a halt, as he saw Yagami, or whatever, eventually stopping in front of a short blonde haired girl with another bodyguard by her side, both in front of a suspicious-looking warehouse. The girl shouted to the boy in surprise,"Tatsumi!?"

Oh, so that was his name. Moving on.

In the middle of their conversation, Tatsumi was approached from the back by the same raven haired assassin he saw earlier. Her face, her expression showed no sign of empathy, only the instinct to kill. Tatsumi immediately pulled out his sword in defence. At this point, Kai wondered if he should step in and intervene, or let Tatsumi deal with this by himself. He seemed capable as a fighter, but the girl, judging from her looks and posture, seemed to be much more skilled than he is.

The girl ran forward, and simply jumped across Tatsumi, leaving him surprised, and instead headed for the bodyguard who immediately upon fire upon her. He might as well didn't, as none of his shots hit their mark anyways. The girl skillfully dodged every bullet, and carved a huge one on the bodyguard, leaving the blonde girl defenceless. Just as the black haired assassin was about to finish her, Tatsumi came in and pushed the assassin back.

The assassin held a look of confusion on her face, wondering why this naive boy would protect the blonde girl. It appears her target was the blonde girl all along. Kai was dumbstruck by this, why would Night Raid, go so far as to attacking a mansion in the middle of the woods, and trying to assassinate a little girl, and possibly her entire family as well. That doesn't seem very "noble" of them, considering what cause they're fighting for.

In the midst of the scene, Kai caught another individual coming into vicinity of the former three. A woman with long blonde hair and questionable clothing was watching the black haired assassin in some sort of staring contest with Tatsumi.

The two finally clashed swords, and it was evident that the assassin was far more skilled than Tatsumi was. He was kicked in the back by the assassin, and in a split second, faster than even Kai himself realized, the girl lunged her sword right at where Tatsumi's heart would be. Kai grabbed the hilt of his blade, ready to step in, until he realized the sword didn't go all the way through, which didn't make sense. Tatsumi eventually managed to get back up, and showed that he was unharmed because of blind luck. The assassin made her move again, and Tatsumi went flabbergasted at this.He tried to convince the assassin to stop, but to no avail. Her sword was already inches away from his face.

Kai decided he had enough.

A sudden clash of metal, broke everyone's attention.

Everyone widened their eyes at the display of the newcomer who swiftly blocked the black haired assassin's attack, all in less than a second.

Tatsumi was the first one who voiced out his surprise.

"K-Kai!!? What are you doing here!!?"

Tatsumi's mind was in pieces. After all this mess, the guy he met a few days earlier, the same guy who dumped him after reaching the capital, had now seemingly saved his life after coming out of nowhere.

From another assassin's point of view...

Akame was surprised by the black hairedstranger in front of her. He was quick, that was for sure. His clothes aren't anything special, save for that red scarf. His blade was crimson in color, which is definitely odd. Could it be another Teigu?

But what struck her the most were his eyes. **Yellow eyes, almost like a predator. **And his face, held no emotion whatsoever. She felt like looking into a mirror.

Even Leone, who was about to step in earlier, froze in shock. She didn't sense his presense before. Which meant whoever he is, he's no beginner for sure.

Akame returned to her usual stoic expression, and calmly said to the stranger," You're not a target. Move."

The stranger didn't move one bit. After what felt like minutes of solence between the two, Akame finally decided to take action.

"Eliminate."

She dissappeared from view instantly. Tatsumi was surprised by her speed and his eyes looked everywhere for signs of the black haired assassin to no avail. But Kai knew better. He heard a gush of wind, and his blade moved to parry the incoming attack from his left.

Akame was slightly surprised at this, but she kept her composure. She once again turned into a blur and dashed at the stranger from a different angle, only to receive the same outcome, again, and again. Her attacks became faster, faster than the normal eye could see, and each swing she dealt held more strength each time, in an attempt to break the stranger's defence and deliver a single, lethal cut.

It didn't work.

After what sounded like the hundredth clash of metal, Akame jumped away from the stranger and held a defensive position. It took her a moment to realize she was already breathing heavily. But what unnerved her the most, was what she saw.

The stranger held a calm look in his face, like he hadn't just parried a hundred attacks from her earlier. It almost seemed like he wasn't taking this fight seriously. Like he wasn't even trying.

She gritted her teeth, her calm expression breaking a bit, her grip on Murasame tightened, and she leaped forward once more, this time delivering a flurry of thrusts and slashes at such a quick rate, her arms became literal blurs. She struck every angle she could find, analyzing every move in an attempt to find just one single vulnerable opening to deal the killing blow.

She couldn't.

Their swords locked once more, and the stranger suddenly gave a powerful push with his blade, forcing Akame to jump back. He once again held his blade firmly close to his eye level and aimed towards her, signifying that he is definitely not someone, to be underestimated.

To say everyone was speechless would be an understatement. Tatsumi's mind was completely in pieces at this point. To think that this guy, the same guy who walks like a puppet, doesn't talk and likes to leave others in the dust, of all people, would be so skilled with a sword, with such skill, he could've killed him if he wanted to, and he wouldn't be able to fight back. Even the blonde girl from before simply watched in amazement at the display of skill in front of her. She almost forgot that she nearly lost her life a while ago. Leone was utterly frozen in shock. She had never met anyone who could withstand Akame's attacks like that, but what struck her as even stranger was that she didn't sense any killing intent from the stranger. A sudden realization dawned upon her.

Akame, had the greatest reaction. Her calm expression was completely broken. Her eyes widened at the stranger in front of her. In all the years she had spent fighting, she had never met anyone, who could resist her attacks in a sword fight, so easily. It was safe to say, she had truly met her match.

Her killing intent, which she had kept hidden before, had risen exponentially. This stranger was a threat, to herself, to her goals, and she couldn't allow that. She was about to lunge in for another attack, if it weren't for a furry paw reaching for the back of her uniform and pulling her backwards.

"Hold on a minute, Akame." Leone said to her partner, while holding her back. Akame was surprised by what her partner did and said to her. " What are you doing, Leone?" "Why are you trying so hard to kill that guy? He didn't even have any killing intent. He was just defending himself, and that boy in the back, I guess." Leone replied nonchalantly. Akame realized that her teammate was right. The whole time they were fighting, she didn't sense any murderous intent from him at all. He was on the defensive throughout the fight.

"...you're right. I got too carried away." Akame regained her composure, but kept her eyes on the stranger, who had also sheathed his sword. Leone continued," Besides, that boy in the back, technically I owed him a favor. I figured I'd repay him now." Tatsumi saw the blonde woman, and suddenly felt a click in his head and exclaimed,"H-HEY!!! You're the boobs from earlier!!" To which the aforementioned "boobs" replied," That's right! The beautiful lady from earlier!"

Kai stayed silent throughout the exchange between Tatsumi and the two members of Night Raid, now known as Akame and Leone, while contemplating in his thoughts. His thought were broken when he smelled a faint stench, coming from the warehouse. He stepped towards the warehouse where the source of the smell came from, when the blonde girl who had been on the sidelines the whole time, noticed the stranger walking towards the warehouse, and her heart raced. Leone also noticed the stranger walking towards the warehouse, and smirked.

"By the way, young man. You mentioned something about killing the innocent earlier, right? Well, can you say the same, after seeing what lies behind **that**?" She motioned to the warehouse behind them, after which Kai kicked open the front door, and he realized what the foul stench really was. Leone continued, "Take a good look, this is the imperial capital's darkness."

Taking a look inside, Tatsumi's heart sank, completely unexpected to be greeted by the hellish view.

Corpses, dozens of them, hung by the arms, some chained to tables, and many others caged within metal bars, their expressions of pure agony still present on whatever was left of their faces. "Wha...what the hell is this?" Tatsumi couldn't believe his eyes. Of course he couldn't, how could something like this even exist? Leone answered, "They lure unsuspecting people from the countryside with sweet words, and then tortured and played with them like toys until their deaths. This is what the household really is." Tatsumi looked to one of the hanging corpses, and realized that it looked familiar to one of his friends, ones that he had not seen for a while since coming to the capital.

"S-Sayo..?"

While Tatsumi was having an emotional crisis inside the warehouse, Kai kept his gaze toward the contents of the warehouse. These people, they could've been leading better lives, instead they met a gruesome death in this hellhole.

His expression remained blank, but his fists shook with fury. He then slowly turned his sights toward the blonde girl who had been quiet the whole time. The girl then jerked back seeing the stranger staring at her. Those eyes. **Those damned yellow eyes, that struck perpetual terror into the hearts of those unlucky enough to be caught in its deathly stare,** was enough to terrify her to the core, her body intensely shaking yet not moving, as she was too scared to even take a step.

"T-Tatsumi..." An unknown voice snapped Kai's attention back to the warehouse. "I-Ieyasu...?" Tatsumi was horrified at the state his friend was in. How? How could this happen, he thought to himself.

"That..girl...took me and Sayo to her..home, and...when we ate the..food, we lost...consciousness...then we came to here...that girl, she's the one..who tortured Sayo to death!" Ieyasu finally broke down after the last sentence, revealing the horrid truth to Tatsumi. Aria, the same girl who had given him food and a place to say, a girl with such a kind personality, she's the **monster** who did all this. His innocence had finally shattered. The truth of the capital's corruption has never been so much more obvious.

"...what's so wrong with THAT!!!? YOU'RE ALL WORTHLESS HICKS FROM THE COUNTRY, THE SAME AS CATTLE!! I'M FREE TO DO WHATEVER I WANT TO THEM, AREN'T I!!? AND THAT WOMAN!!! EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS JUST CATTLE, HER HAIR WAS SMOOTH!!! WHO DOES SHE THINK HE IS!!? WHILE I STRUGGLE WITH MY UNRULY HAIR!!! THAT'S WHY I MADE SURE SHE SUFFERED AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!!! SHE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL ANYONE PAID THAT MUCH ATTENTION TO HER!!!!" The girl known as Aria finally broke her innocent mask as her true nature unraveled itself in front of everyone.

"A family of sadists, disguised as good Samaritans. That's what they are. Sorry for getting in your way." Leone directed towards Tatsumi, while she let Akame do her job. "Eliminate." A single word is all she had to say, Murasame in hand.

"Wait..."Tatsumi's line bewildered both Leone and Tatsumi. Leone asked Tatsumi out of shock, "Don't tell me...you still want to defend her?" Tatsumi's answer, was brief and absolute. "No...I'll kill her myself!!!"

A sound of clashing metals was heard.

Tatsumi was dumbstruck by the sight of Kai, blocking his sword, seemingly trying to defend Aria. "What are you doing? Let me kill her!!! She doesn't deserve to live!!" Tatsumi exclaimed towards Kai, who responded by bringing his sword down, and walking towards Aria, while Tatsumi and the others simply stared in confusion.

A sudden gush of wind, and two dismembered arms fell to the earth below.

"Hah..hhHEEAAAAGHH!!!!" The girl screamed to the top of her lungs in pain, her eyes widening at her now non-existent arms, replaced with a bloody visage. She then felt intense pain in her eyes, and realized she had just lost her sights. Before she could scream again, she felt another jolt of pain from behind her kneecaps forcing her to kneel down on her legs. Kai slashed her eyes rendering her blind, and struck at her veins rendering her feet inoperable, as blood splattered everywhere.

"UWAAAAAAGHHHH!!!! HEAAAGH!!! HEAAAAAAAaaghh!!! Hiaaahhh...haagghh..." The girl-no, the monster who had tortured and killed so many innocents, was now reduced to kneeling on both knees, eyes crying blood, and missing two limbs. She no longer had the strength to scream, and was merely sobbing like a sorry excuse of a human being.

The look on everyone's faces can be described with one word. Speechless. Leone, and even Akame had horrified looks on their faces due to the recent spectacle. Tatsumi, was petrified by what he had just witnessed. Kai sheathed back his sword, and calmly walked back towards the group, and when he passed by Tatsumi, he whispered in his ears, words that shocked him to his very core. Not the sentence itself, but how calmly he said it.

"She's all yours."

He silently walked away, and stood beside a tree, while closing his eyes, and contemplating his thoughts.

He only thought of one thing in mind.

The bitch deserved it.

-

**So...uhh, this chapter was definitely a lot longer than my previous ones. More than double the number of words in comparison. That's because I realize this story is taking a bit too slow, since it's already 5 chapters in, and I haven't even finished the events of the first episode yet. But also partly because a sudden wave of motivation suddenly drove me to write this long, so there's that too.**

**If you think the final scene was a bit too much, well I'm sorry to tell you, but expect more of pretty much that throughout this story. Kai isn't really your average protagonist. Let's just say I made him a little based on a specific character in mind. I think you know which one, a certain green guy with a chainsaw who's too angry to die. Yeah, you should definitely know which one I meant.**

**Anyway, hope you like this chapter, and ciao.**


	6. Chapter 6

In the far northern regions outside the Empire, thousands of men in armor marched through a city, once robust and full of life, now a lifeless, bloodied wasteland.

They are the Imperial army, commanded by a single woman who carries a rapier. She wore the Imperial General's uniform and had long flowing light blue hair and blue eyes. There was a distinct mark on her chest, the mark of a Teigu.

General Esdeath, the strongest general in the Empire, the Ice Queen herself, was...dissapointed. Even more so, she was troubled.

Usually, the visage of a city of dead corpses never fazed her in the slightest, but this was different.

For one, this was **not **her doing. This city was already in ruins when she and her army arrived.

Someone, managed to wipe out an entire city which was essentially a fortress, before she could. The corpses were all civilians who lived here and soldiers who wore the seal of the northern tribes, which indicated that whatever forces they fought didn't suffer a single casualty.

That, or this was all the work of a single person. Another Teigu user.

The thought excited her. That meant there could be someone else who might be just as strong as she is. Someone worthy of being her opponent.

The corpse of the of the Hero of the North, Numa Seika, was found hanging from the wall of his castle on display for all to see, pierced in the mouth with his own spear. His limbs were also missing from his body. Whoever did this, certainly knew how to be creative.

"General Esdeath, we found one still alive." One of the soldiers informed her. A single surviving soldier of the northern tribe was dragged towards the General. He had several cuts and bruises, his clothes were in tatters, and his armor was completely broken. His eyes were soulless. His breaths were erratic and unstable.

Esdeath took a good look at the survivor, and kneeled down to eye level. Her question was simple, but deep. " **Who did this?**"

The soldier, merely stared at her for a long time. He opened his mouth to speak, but struggled with his words. "I-it...it was...it was j-j-just...one man...it...w-was..j-just one man...one...one man..." His words soon became indecipherable.

Esdeath briefly smiled. So her hunches were right, it was definitely another Teigu user. But what kind of Teigu could do so much damage? "Tell me more. What does he look like?"

The soldier's expression turned into one of shock. He started screaming and spouting words while rapidly shaking his head, as if going through a traumatic flashback. "NOOOO!!!! GET AWAY FROM ME!!! **DEMON!!! **They were all dead, they were ALL DEAD!!! Those eyes...those **cursed ****YELLOW** **EYES**!!!! You won't take me..no no no you can't take ME!!! YOU DAMNED YELLOW-EYED **DEMON**!!! I WON'T BE DAMNED!!!!"

The soldier proceeded to take one of the broken pieces of his armor, and sliced his own neck in front of the General. His body was twitching, red continously flowing out of the fresh wound, while drowning in his own blood, until the body finally went limb. The imperial soldiers were shocked by the display, but kept quiet. Esdeath merely wiped the blood off her face, and stood up, contemplating her thoughts. Even she was silenced by what happened.

Whatever the soldier has seen, was traumatic enough to break his mind. Yellow eyes. That's all she could gather before the soldier took his own life. Esdeath's mind was filled with curiosity, excitement even more so. A wide grin was plastered on her face. She couldn't wait to meet this "yellow-eyed demon", and engage in a battle against him. She could already imagine how epic such a fight would be. The corpses all showed slash wounds, and some of them were even missing heads and limbs, meaning the Teigu user could've been using some sort of melee Teigu. His skills must also be superb, being able to singlehandedly exterminate an entire city by himself.

She knew what must be done. Travel back into the capital to report the situation, and search for this "demon". Such a search could take a while, considering how big the Empire is, and there's a chance the "demon" had already left this country and gone to the western and southern countries, but it didn't matter. She could wait.

**Far from the northern city**

A lone man trekked across the snow, making his way south. He carried a sheathed sword in his back. He wore a dark blue trenchcoat with a brown buttoned vest and black long-sleeved shirt underneath, dark blue jeans, and black winter boots. A blue bandana was wrapped around his neck. His most notable feature, however, was his messy white hair, and yellow eyes.

He needed to find some lunch to fill his stomach after the little "exercise" he went through hours before. It wasn't his fault they decided to attack first, mistaking him for a spy from the Empire, whatever that was, when he only intended to ask for directions. And a question which he still couldn't get an answer for. The brat with the spear was quite annoying, but he was all bark and no bite.

He smiled. Even though he's not sure where he's going, he could feel that he's getting close to his goal.

The skies were getting dark. Lightning flashed across the clouds. Echoes of thunder could be heard across miles. But it did not bother him in the slightest. Although he could use a warm cup of tea right now.

_

He did it.

He killed her.

He got his revenge.

So why didn't if feel satisfying?

Tatsumi gritted his teeth in frustration. The bitch who tortured and killed his friends, was now nothing more than a bloodied, headless corpse sprawled on the ground. Yet, her cries of agony, when..**he **mercilessly took out her hands, eyes, and knees. What **he** did, was brutal. But she deserved it, right?

Leone stared at Tatsumi with a look of curiosity. 'He may have hated her now, but he still killed her without hesitation. Maybe, it's possible...' She thought. Her eyes then trailed off towards the mysterious stranger who was now laying beside a tree. Kai, that's what Tatsumi called him earlier, meaning that they have met each other before. The one who managed to repel all of Akame's attacks with ease.

Akame kept her eyes focused on the stranger, "Kai". Her hands were itching to draw out Murasame, waiting for any suspicious movements. Even though so far the stranger hadn't harbored any ill intents towards her, she couldn't help but feel on edge. His sword was a mystery, its design seems similar to her own Teigu, except it has a black hilt, black sheath and a crimson blade, curiously mimicking the colour of blood. She could've sworn the blade was flashing bright red earlier, but it was probably just a light trick.

The sound of vomiting blood coming from the warehouse caught the attention of a certain brown haired boy. "Ieyasu!" Tatsumi shouted while reaching for his friend who was now barely holding on to his life.

"It's the final stages of Lubora. The mother of the household enjoyed drugging her victims. She even wrote about the details in her diary. I'm sorry, but he cannot be saved." Akame's words stung. Tatsumi realized there was nothing he could do to save his best friend.

"Tatsumi...Sayo, she never gave in...to that bitch. Even to the end...she was so cool...so...Master Ieyasu...has to have a...cool end as well..." Ieyasu reached forward, grabbing the air while exhaling his final words, until the disease finally took him.

Tatsumi stared in horror, holding his now lifeless friend in his arms.

"He managed to survive that far, by sheer willpower alone." Akame's words had never been so true. Ieyasu had always been a strong-willed boy, never giving in to his hope. Tatsumi knew that. He held his friend close in sorrow, barely holding back the tears.

**"What is going on in the capital?"**

Meanwhile, a lone wanderer stood far behind, gazing at the stars. He held a blank look on his face, but he felt content. He knew what had to be done now.

If the capital was truly filled with monsters like **her**, than there was no more question. He will do what he had always done before.

**He will ****slay and destroy****, until it is finished.**

Akame decided to walk back to regroup. Her job here is done. She told Leone to do the same, "Let's go."

"Hold on. Why don't we bring the boy with us?" Leone asked towards her partner, though she didn't wait for an answer. 'Eh?' A paw suddenly grabbed Tatsumi by the collar as he was dragged away by the blonde woman out of the warehouse. Dragging the brown haired boy easily, Leone tried to convince her partner about her decision. "Our secret base is always short-handed. The boy has luck, courage, and even skill! Don't you agree?" While the boy in question tried helplessly to break out of the woman's strong grip. "H-hey!! What are you doing!? Release me! I have to dig a grave for them!!!"

Surprisingly, he was answered by the woman. "Don't worry, we'll bring their corpses back to our base." "Huh!? L-let go!!" He continued to struggle while dragged on the dirt like a worthless sack, much to his dismay.

"Wait, Leone. What about..**him**?" Akame pointed towards the stranger they met earlier. Even Leone stopped in her tracks. Kai simply stared at them with his usual blank expression. Leone decided to break the silence.

"Hey! What about you? Wanna come with us?" Akame stared at her friend with disbelief at how nonchalantly she stated her question.

Kai's answer, was short and absolute. "No."

His answer surprised Leone, she was expecting him to say yes. Even Tatsumi stared in shock at Kai for his response. He knew Kai was skilled, considering what he's seen earlier, but he would be making all of Night Raid his potential enemy with his decision.

Leone contemplated her thoughts. Considering his skills, he could be a valuable addition for Night Raid. Even his sword looked like an unknown Teigu which would be an advantage for the Revolutionary Army. But if he refused, then she couldn't simply let him walk away. He had seen her face. It would lead to a disadvantage if such information were to leak to the Imperial Army. Not to mention the Imperial Army might also seek his prowess, thus making him a dangerous enemy for Night Raid.

"I'm afraid I can't take no for an answer. You have skills, I will admit that. You'll be a great addition to Night Raid. But we can't let you walk away like that, not since you already know our identities. Furthermore, I don't think you can handle all of us." Leone informed Kai about the consequences of his decision. Akame grabbed the hilt of Murasame, preparing for a battle.

What followed, was the sound of a gush of wind, the rustling of trees, and the stranger was no longer there. Akame widened her eyes. He was so fast, she couldn't track where he went. She glanced across her field of vision, and hopped to the trees, searching for the stranger. Leone clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Great, he's gone. Oh well, I guess I'm stuck with you then!" She winked towards Tatsumi, who was now confused as heck, thinking about how he got in this situation.

Later on, Leone reached the place where the other Night Raid members were waiting, while carrying Tatsumi in her arms, bridal style.

"You're late!!! Where were you? And what is that thing!?" The loud voice of a certain pink-haired girl reached her eardrums. She responded, "This is our new friend!!" That shocked Tatsumi, and his shock was audibly heard as well, "Huh? What!?"

"Oh didn't I tell you? From now on you are one of us! Welcome to Night Raid!!" Tatsumi, now on the floor, was jaw-dropped by Leone's remark. He couldn't believe this was happening to him.

"Hey, Leone. Where's Akame?" One of the Night Raid members, a green haired boy with red goggles on his head, asked Leone a legitimate question. Leone had a bit of trouble answering the question. "Oh, right. She...uh..."

Just then, said assassin came out of the trees and landed beside Leone, surprising everyone. "Akame! Where have you been?" The pink haired girl asked her. Akame answered without breaking her expression, although there was a hint of distress in her tone, "There was another one. I chased him down, but he managed to escape." Her answer created confusion and curiosity among her teammates. Leone finally explained, "There was one other boy that we met tonight during our mission. He was really good, he even managed to fend off Akame when she was getting serious. Although, sadly, he didn't accept my offer when I asked him to join us." Her last sentence was spoken with a hint if dissapointment. But it was her second sentence that sparked an interest among the rest.

"Wait, you're telling me, someone managed to best you in a fight? Was it another Teigu user?" The pink haired girl asked. Akame tried to answer, but she couldn't come up with one. That sword, it was definitely no ordinary sword, but she couldn't find anything else special about it other than its strange look.

Somehow, she felt like the stranger didn't give it his all during their short battle. Like he hid his own true strength on purpose. Like he wasn't taking her seriously. It was grating on her mind, but she kept quiet.

That stranger was all she could think about. He was fast, even faster than she expected. It made her wonder what kind of life he had led to reach such level of skill. She wanted to know more. She had a feeling that someday, they will both meet again. And hopefully, when that day comes, it wouldn't be as enemies.

**Meanwhile...**

Kai dashed through the thick forest, carefully finding his way back. He hoped he hasn't been gone for long.

Reaching his destination, Kai stopped to be greeted by the sight of...a young raven haired girl sleeping peacefully on a pile of leaves, near a campfire.

He sighed in relief. Naoki was still sleeping soundly. He had intention to join Night Raid intially,but he couldn't leave Naomi alone. She was his responsibility now, wether he liked it or not.

Thankfully there were no more Danger Beasts around the area, possibly because he had already slain all of them. Perhaps he should teach Naoki how to fight, so she could at least fend for herself in the wild. He knew he couldn't be there for her all the time. She needed to know how to defend herself. But he wasn't sure if he could be an acceptable teacher, since he never taught anyone before.

Lying near the fire for comfort, Kai gazed at the night sky. Looking at the stars, he felt...peaceful.

He contemplated in his thoughts.

He had achieved his goal, meeting Night Raid, and even clashed against one of them. She was powerful, but he had fought much worse. Unpleasant memories resurfaced, which he swiftly tried to dismiss from his mind. He knew that the next time he meet them, it'll be either as a friend, or an enemy. He'll have to play it right and hopefully, he won't have to cut his way through.

He stared at the sword in his hands. Shinku had shed enough blood for tonight. But he knew it wouldn't be the last.

It's going to be a long day tomorrow.


	7. Chapter 7

The sound of birds chirping in the trees were disrupted by the roar of a large quadrupedal creature, searching for suitable prey among the wild. The sun was shining bright, but it didn't distract the creature in any way.

The creature resembled a lion with yellow fur and a mane, had two large horns growing out of its forehead, and three red eyes. The creature was a Class 2 Danger Beast, a Jackaleo. It slowly roamed the forest, looking for its next lunch. Scanning the trees around it, it was dissappointed by the lack of potential prey that could satisfy its stomach.

Unbeknownst to the beast, another being was silently observing the beast from above, hidden among the branches. The being in question was a girl no older than 15, observing the Jackaleo like a predator would be watching its prey.

The girl was wearing a dark red hooded cloak which covered her appearance. Underneath her cloak was a worn grey blouse and black skirt with red vertical stripes, with a pair of dark grey jeans underneath. She also wore a pair of brown boots and her raven hair was tied with a pink ribbon like a ponytail, to complete her look.

Slowly unsheathing a pair of daggers from her back, Naoki waited for the right moment to attack the Jackaleo. She kept a steady breath, her eyes remaining fixated on the Danger Beast, her body completely static so as to not make any sounds. The Beast unwarily moved under the tree she was hiding in, the beast's head just under her feet.

She leapt.

Pushing the daggers right into its back, the Jackaleo roared in pain from the surprise attack, and frantically moved about to remove the attacker riding its back. Naoki kept her daggers within and tightened her grip, while struggling to remain on top of the beast. The Danger Beast suddenly twisted its body rapidly, causing the daggers to dislodge themselves from its behind, surprising the girl. The sudden inertia caused her to fly off the beast's back and eventually hit a tree behind her with tremendous force.

"GAAGH-HK!!" Feeling blood in her mouth, Naoki tried her best to remain conscious, still holding her daggers tightly. She gritted her teeth in pain, but she tried to ignore it. Her vision has gotten a bit blurry, but she could still make out the shape of a certain Danger Beast, coming towards her.

Reacting on instinct, she rolled away to the side to dodge the incoming attack, and immediately stood up and slashed one of its legs. The beast roared once more before delivering another swipe of its claws, which she safely dodged in time. However, she failed to see another incoming slash from the beast, and could only block the claws with her daggers. The force of the attack was so strong it took her off her feet and forced her onto the ground.

Struggling to lift herself up once more, she saw the beast leaping onto her, jaws wide open. Her eyes widened in shock. Her daggers were on the ground. She couldn't move fast enough.

She heard a gush of wind, and the Jackaleo's head was detached from its body. Its corpse flew right pass her and touched the solid ground. The beast's blood was spattered on her face, but she didn't react to it. Rather, her eyes were focused on the presence of a familiar yellow-eyed swordsman.

As she continously stared into the man's eyes, she had a sudden realization, and looked down in shame.

Kai looked at the girl while remaining silent. It was her first time taking on a Class 2 Danger Beast. Perhaps he shouldn't have expected too much from her yet.

It had been a week since their first meeting, and since then, Kai had been teaching Naoki how to handle a weapon and survive in the wild. She needed to learn how to handle with wild animals before she could consider taking on human opponents.

Her clothing, which he bought from the capital with what money he had left while he was avoiding the imperial police, were now dirty and stained with blood. It didn't matter, he could always just clean it at the river.

"I...I'm too weak." Her sudden statement surprised Kai, though he didn't show it.

"I...I'm still too weak...if I can't even kill an animal, how am I...how am I going to fight back the Empire like this!?" She tried her best to hold back her tears, an effort which failed miserably.

She could see the faces of her loved ones, her parents and her grandmother, everytime she sleeps. She promised to herself that she would do whatever it takes to exact her vengeance on the tower of filth that is the capital. She was no longer the innocent child of a merchant living a normal life. She wasn't afraid to stain her hands with blood if it meant vanquishing her thirst for vengeance. But her lack of proficiency in combat made that dream seem too good to be true.

A warm touch suddenly stopped her sobbing, as she felt Kai's hand patting her on the head. He was much taller than she was, so it was easy for him to do so. Her amber eyes, still watery, looked up to see the usual blank stare from the swordsman, except this time it was different. His eyes held a look of sympathy. She eventually formed a weak smile on her face, slowly pushing the swordsman's hand away.

"I'm...I'm okay." Naoki tried to convince the swordsman that she was no longer emotionally damaged, although the swordsman wasn't that easily fooled. He patted her head once more to her annoyance, but this time, she didn't do anything to resist.

"Am I...ever going to be strong enough?" Her question carried a sorrowful tone. She wasn't sure if her daily training would prove to be fruitful. She had gone through hardships in her life, but this was the first time she had to fight like her life depended on it.

"You will."

Kai's answer surprised her, but she immediately held a warm smile on her face. He might've just said it to ease her, but it didn't matter anyway. It was good enough.

-

The sun was setting, the skies were turning dark, and the sound of clashing of metals echoed throughout the forest. A dozen blows were dealt, all of them parried. The two combatants were locked in a deathly stare. However, only one of them was breathing heavily.

Naoki held her twin daggers in a defensive stance. She was sweating heavily, but her will to continue training overpowered her own tiredness. Kai however, was standing calmly while holding his sword, its crimson blade pointed towards the girl. He flicked its blade a little, displaying a gesture of calling her out, taunting her to attack. She gritted her teeth in frustration, and moved forward to deliver a horizontal slash with both her daggers, an act that was blocked by Kai's sword. She spun around to deliver another slash towards his feet. He merely jumped backwards to avoid, delivering a kick towards her body while in the air and landing on both feet afterwards.

The force of the kick caused Naoki to stumble backwards, but she regained her footing. She moved in while jumping in the air to deliver a powerful downward slash, while Kai merely sidestepped to the left. She expected his move, however, and landed on her hands while immediately spinning her right foot towards where Kai was standing, in an attempt to make him fall over. Unfortunately for her, her attack was too easy for Kai to spot, and he jumped backwards again outside of her range.

Naoki hurriedly regained her stance, but she failed to foresee the incoming palm strike directed by Kai towards her chest. A single thrust and she was pushed backwards, falling on the ground on her rear. Her fatigue was distracting her movements, but she tried to stand back up anyway. Seeing the silent swordsman in a passive stance while calmly watching her with his sword on his shoulder made her pout in annoyance. She knew he was just playing around, while she was trying her best to win this fight like her life depended on it.

She moved to attack again, but she was stopped by Kai's sudden gesture, holding his palm with his fingers pointing upwards, a sign that he wanted to stop the training. He had even sheathed his sword. She took the moment to finally catch her breath, while sheathing her daggers.

Her expression was grim. He had managed to hit her over dozens of times, and she couldn't even land a single scratch on his clothes. The purpose of the training was to make her skilled enough to at least be able to land a scratch on him, but he was too fast. In a real fight to the death, he could've killed her within the first three seconds.

A right hand was placed on her head, causing her to look up in surprise. Naoki was greeted with the sight of Kai's blank expression, although what caught her attention was his left hand with its thumb outwards motioning to the river nearby. She knew what he meant. All the training had made her sweat a lot and her clothes were all dirty from the number of times she kissed the ground thanks to Kai.

_

Feeling the cold water, Naoki dipped a bucket into the river and gently poured the water all over her untied hair and body. The cold river water didn't bother her all that much, as she had grown used to it. She was only in her undergarments, her fair skin, moderately sized chest and the rest of her body was unprotected from the soft breeze of the forest. Usually, she would be embarrassed, taking a bath out in the open where anyone passing by could accidentally see her, but right now, she couldn't help but feel secure, possibly thanks to Kai.

Naoki's face suddenly went to a shade of red. She remembered that Kai was still a male, and the thought that he might be able to see her half-naked caused her to blush. Her amber eyes immediately darted towards the silent swordsman, who was...sitting on a large chunk of rock and staring into oblivion, like a statue.

For some reason, Naoki felt...dissappointed. Yes, perhaps she hadn't grown into a fine woman yet, but it hurt her a bit that Kai wouldn't even take a peek at her considering she was practically in her underwear. Was she really that unattractive?

She realized how ridiculous her thought was, and immediately dismissed it. Her blush covering her face became redder. What was she thinking? It's supposed to be a good thing that he didn't try to peek at her like a pervert. Maybe he was just being a gentleman? Or maybe, he swings the other way-no, this wasn't right. She shouldn't be thinking about this right now. She hastily poured another bucket of water over her head, trying to finish her bath as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Kai was, sitting on a rock, while staring into oblivion, like a statue. At least, that's what it would seem like to a normal person.

What he was actually doing was scanning the area around them, looking for any signs of Danger Beasts, or other potential hostiles. The meat that he was cooking at the campfire would take a while to finally be edible, so he decided to take the time to scout the forest in front of him. So far, nothing interesting had caught his eyes. Had he really killed every single Danger Beast living here during the whole time they were staying? That's too bad. Shinku was craving for more blood.

His eyes darted towards towards the capital, far in the horizon. The night was coming. That meant **they **might also show up.

Night Raid.

Kai wasn't sure if it was time to meet them again. If he was going to the capital, he might have to bring Naoki close by his side as well. But then again, chances are he might ended up fighting them instead, and he wouldn't want to risk Naoki getting hurt. The girl could barely defend herself against a Danger Beast, much less a highly skilled assassin, assuming they would consider her a potential target.

But staying here wasn't much safer either. Who knows what creatures could be lurking when he wasn't around. There's also the fact that their location could easily be attacked by bandits and possibly Imperial scouts, which would attract the attention of the Empire, and he didn't want that. At least, not yet.

He dismissed the thought. He looked back at Naoki, who had now finished her bath and were dressing up inside their tent. He already failed to save her parents. In a way, he felt responsible. She needed to know how to fight. She might want to join the Revolutionary Army he'd been hearing about, considering her opinion on the Empire, but he wasn't sure if military life would actually be suited for her. Although that didn't mean he's going to stop her should the time comes.

Which was exactly why he knew he had to at least be on equal terms with Night Raid. Their relationship with the Revolutionary Army might prove to be beneficial. But if he wanted to ensure her safety, he needed to find Night Raid first.

Kai eventually made up his mind. He dropped down from the rock and returned to the fire. He saw Naoki sitting there, now wearing an extra set of clothes that he got for her. She was wearing a white blouse and a red skirt, along with a pair of brown sandals. Cutting up some of the roasted meat which had been salted courtesy of Naoki, the two indulged in their simple but fulfilling dinner.

_

Finishing his meal, Kai looked towards Naoki's direction, who was still enjoying her salted meat. She looked towards him in confusion.

"Something wrong?"

Kai answered her question with a simple gesture of pointing at himself with his thumb, then pointing his index finger outwards towards the forest. It clicked onto Naoki's mind what he meant by that. Sometimes he would go out by himself far away to hunt Danger Beasts, or go back to the capital to get supplies for themselves. He wanted to leave, and he was asking her to stay behind again.

Naoki narrowed her eyes, displaying a hint of melancholy. He was just trying to keep her safe, she knew that. But she just wished he would take her to wherever he was going, just so she could at least have some more experience, instead of just staying back and training.

"Be safe, okay?" Her words were short and simple, but held a deep meaning. Kai simply nodded, informing her that he understood, before leaping into the forest, leaving her in the dust.

She wasn't mad that he would just leave like that. She just hoped this would be the last time.

_

At the top of a watchtower, a lone swordsman stood, watching over the sprawling collection of buildings and streets in front of him. Most of the civilians have already gone to their beds, which meant less chance of having witnesses.

Kai held his attention towards an interesting scen far from where he was. It was a good thing he chose to go the capital this time. Otherwise, he would've missed this.

His hunches were right. Once again, he had found Night Raid. And it just so happened to be someone he knew.

Focusing his eyesight, he could see a young brown-haired boy with a sword fighting against a large muscular man with strange fashion sense. He wasn't sure if wearing a huge creepy eyeball as a headwear was the new trend nowadays. The brown-haired boy, Tatsumi wasn't it? He seemed to be at a disadvantage against the large man armed with blades seemingly coming out of his arms.

Tatsumi had already sustained several slash wounds on his body, yet he remained firm in a defensive position. He must have been mocking the man, because the large man was about to retort in anger, when all of a sudden, his expression shifted, to that of a smile.

What surprised him, however, was when the man suddenly turned his gaze on him, meaning the man somehow managed to spot him from far away, and he was pretty sure he hid his own presence quite well. The man was moving his mouth and body in a way that indicated he was taunting him, asking him to join the party.

Oh well, no use trying to hide anymore.

_

Akame had a terrible feeling.

Looking into the red moon, she had a feeling that Tatsumi might be in trouble. She didn't know how, but her honed instincts were rarely wrong. But she didn't know where he could be.

She leapt up the walls and towards the rooftop. Leaping from building to building, her vision scanned every observable location where her partner potentially could be.

Hearing the faint sounds of blades clashing, her attention darted towatowards an open field, where two silhouttes were fighting against one another, and from the looks of it, one of them was losing.

Taking a closer look, she recognized one of them as Tatsumi, who seened to be badly wounded and were holding his own against a large man in a grey coat and a strange looking eyeball on his forehead. There was no doubt about it. This was Zank the Executioner.

She could clearly see Tatsumi was badly wounded, however he still had the guts to taunt the Executioner. Zank held a look of anger. He was going to attack, she knew it.

But just as she were about to throw Murasame, she saw Zank suddenly stopping, and looking at another direction. He suddenly started taunting someone who wasn't there. Or that's what she initially thought. Another silhoutte leapt from a watchtower far away and across rooftops, and landed in front of the rest. Her eyes widened once she realized who it was.

_

"My, my, another one? I know you're there, young man. Why don't you come down here!? After all, the more, THE MERRIER!!" Zank the Executioner shouted at the top of his lungs towards the air with his arms wide open, for some reason. At least, that's what Tatsumi was seeing.

'What the hell is this guy up to?' He thought to himself. Looking in the direction the Executioner was facing, Tatsumi was curious by the appearnace of another stranger coming from the rooftops, and making his way towards twhere they stood. Only when the stranger finally landed in front of them from the sky, did Tatsumi finally recognize the stranger in front of him. The first person he had met throughout everything that had happened in the capital.

"What the...Kai!?"

_

Landing in front of the two, Kai observed Tatsumi's condition, then towards the strange man with the green eyeball. He didn't recognize the man, but he could tell he had skill, and his aura seemed reminiscent of a merciless killer.

"Oh? So you do not know who I am? What a surprise indeed!! Well, no matter, young man. You may call me...Zank the Executioner!!"

The man's statement, who he now know as Zank the Executioner, caused Kai to raise an eyebrow. How did the man know he didn't know who he was? Almost as if-

"-I was reading your mind? Is that what you thought?" The man known as Zank managed to guess his line of thought.

Now both of his eyebrows were raised. So he **can **read minds. That was definitely a first for him. But how? Maybe that weird eyeball thing wasn't just for show.

"Bingo!!! That's right, young man! The Imperial Arm, known as Spectator!! One of its five visionary powers, Insight, allows me to read my opponent's mind!!"

Imperial Arm? What the heck is that?

...

"Oh? You don't know what an Imperial Arm is? How interesting indeed..." Zank let out a small chuckle. Tatsumi gritted his teeth, trying not to succumb to the wounds, but what the Executioner said did surprise him. For someone as skilled as Kai, someone who could go toe-to-toe with Akame, to not know about Teigus seemed almost impossible.

Tatsumi's line of thought was broken by a blur coming towards Zank the Executioner from behind, however Zank managed to evade it by jumping away. That blur turned out to be his partner.

"Akame!!" Tatsumi shouted. However, Akame wasn't focused at him. Rather, she was focused at the silent swordsman. The person she had been trying to find since they first met. His usual blank stare gave her a decent flashback, but she immediately dismissed it. Shifting her eyes, she decided to deal with him later, as her mission to eliminate the Executioner comes first.

Zank the Executioner looked at his new opponent, and smirked. "Ho-hoh!! You thought that I didn't see your attack coming? The infamous Akame and her enchanted sword, the One-Cut Killer: Murasame!! Splendid..splendid. I've been wanting to meet you." Throwing his coat to the air, the Executioner prepared himself against one of Night Raid's most feared member.

"Akame!! Watch out, that guy could read minds!!!" Tatsumi burted out towards his partner. Akame narrowed her eyes. "So that is the power of Spectator. But even if he can read my thoughts, it makes no difference, if he can't counter them!!"

Moving forward at a blinding speed, Akame attacked Zank the Executioner, and exchanged powerful blows with his blades. A series of clashes later, and Akame had figured out that this man had been to numerous battles before. With every strike she delivered, he would block it and attack her at every opening he could find. She decided to break up the distance, and spun around to deliver a powerful kick which sent the Executioner far away.

'With him being able to read my mind, we are evenly matched. If so...' Akame cleared her mind from everything alse in an attempt to get rid of Zank's advantage over her.

Zank noticed this, but his grin didn't go away. "Oh? You've entered a state of nothingness? Not bad, but my Spectator can use Precognition. Judging by the movement of your muscles, you next move will be-" Holding his blade up, he managed to block Akame's attack, which surprises her greatly.

"I see it!" Swiping his blade downward, Akame barely dodged a powerful slash from the Executioner. She didn't escape unharmed, however, as a small wound formed on her left thigh. Akame slightly faltered, but held strong. This man was not to be underestimated.

Zank remained grinning towards his opponent. He knew that he had the upper hand in this fight. What he failed to notice, however, was that there was another threat aiming for him.

"Huh!?" Barely blocking an attack from the young man who showed up earlier, Zank looked towards his new opponent and examined him. Aside from his strange yellow eyes, he didn't see anything alse unusual about his appearance. However, his sword...he had never seen such a strange looking blade.

Zank slashed forward with both his blades from both sides, forcing his opponent to move back. He couldn't read the young man's mind, meaning he had cleared his mind just like Akame did.

"Not bad, young man. Attacking me out if the blue when I was too busy paying attention at my other enemy. Are you also a Impe-" Another slash coming from the young man cut off his sentence too early and caused him to dodge the attack.

The man spun around and brought his crimson sword forth to deliver a series of powerful continous blows which forced Zank on the defensive. Zank responded with another horizontal slash, but ended up hitting the air. He realized the man moved to behind him, and parried an incoming blow towards his head. He jumped backwards narrowly dodging a wide horizontal slash aimed towards his feet, then sidestepping a forward thrust towards his chest, a slight scratch formed on his shirt. Thinking he saw an opportunity to attack, Zank was once again forced to dodge when the man spun around and delivered a powerful upward slash stunning him with the sheer power of the attack, and backflipped while **throwing** his sword towards him while in the air, all that action in such a short time he could barely predict it with his Spectator and have the time to counteract.

Dodging the sword flying towards his head, Zank looked back at the young man. He couldn't help but grin at the stupidity of his opponent's action. "Throwing your weapon towards me? A brilliant move and stupid move, for how are you going to fight me barehanded now?" The man's response, completely shocked him, as he did not expect it at all.

The man simply held up his palm in the air, and the crimson bladed sword **flew** back towards his open palm, almost like magic. The blade also looked a little different, now that its crimson colour was a much brighter shade, and it seemed almost...glowing?

"W-what? That's no normal weapon, isn't it? Oh, quite interesting indeed. You claim not to know anything about Imperial Arms, young man, yet you clearly possess one. Two Imperial Arm users at once, oh how splendid!!" Zank grinned widely. He knew this man was no pushover, but he still couldn't figure out what Imperial Arm the man was holding.

Meanwhile, Tatsumi and Akame merely stood by and watched as the mute swordsman suddenly attacked Zank the Executioner, and actually managed to put him on the defensive. The little display that he did also did not go unnoticed. Akame narrowed her eyes. A normal weapon couldn't simply fly back to its wielder like that. So the man was indeed another Imperial Arm user. But what about the bit that Zank said? How could one be an Imperial Arm user and **not** know anything about Imperial Arms in general? She ended up with more questions than initially.

Zank decided to break the silence with a peculiar question. "I do not know you, but you seem to possess the eyes of someone who has killed, am I right? So tell me, young man, how do you deal with the voices?"

'Voices?' Akame thought to herself. What does the man mean by that?

"...I got used to it."

The answer surprised everyone, because it came from the mouth of the silent swordsman, who until now, had never spoken once.

["How do you deal with the voices?"] Zank's question was unexpected by Kai. 'So I wasn't the only one.'

But he knew the answer to it. He had been hearing voices ever since he took his first life with Shinku in his hands, years ago. The voices of every single person whose life was slain by him, voices of those whose blood had touched his blade. He had learnt to live with them, and eventually ignore them. He still hear them everytime he closed his eyes, but he was no longer bothered by them.

"...I see. So you hear them too? A shame, I could never get used to it. No matter how many medicines I took, how many bottles of alcohol I drank, I could never be able to get rid of them, much less get used to them. I thought I could talk this out with you. But it seems this is my burden alone...how **depressing!!!**" Activating his Spectator, Zank cast an illusion on the young man.

Kai stopped dead in his tracks. His expression remained blank, but his mind was at a loss.

He saw the figure of a person whom he cherished.

A person whom he once looked up to.

A person whom he had not seen for so long.

A person who was the only family he still had.

A person, whose very presence, made his blood boil.

_

Zank the Executioner grinned widely. He knew that his Illusion Sight was working. He was now at an adv-CLANNGG

The sound of clashing metals broke his line of thought. His eyes widened in surprise. He barely managed to block a surprise attack from the swordsman. He saw the swordsman's eyes, and he could feel the rage burning within.

'What the hell!? H-he didn't even falter!!?'

"WHY!!? YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN THE PERSON YOU LOVE THE MOST!!!"

"...I did."

'What?'

"...and I **loathed** him."

'WHAT?' Zank was at a loss. 'How could you love someone **and** hate them at the same time? Just what the hell did that guy see!?'

His train of thought came to a halt, when the swordsman became a blur, and Zank barely had time to block his attack. The swordsman dissappeared from his field of vision, then in less than a split second, another slash came, then came another, and another. It was like he was nowhere, and yet everywhere. Every single strike had more and more power, until shockwaves formed with each time their blades clash against one another. Even with Spectator, Zank was having a harder time trying to block his attacks. The swordsman was fast. **Too** fast. He cannot die now. He won't.

He heard a gush of wind, and he suddenly lost the feeling in his hands.

'What?'

Another gush of wind, and he felt pain in his neck.

Falling to his knees, the man known as Zank the Executioner had lost. His hands, detached from the rest of his arms fell to the ground. His blades, which were breaking apart, finally fell to pieces. He fell to the floor, drowning in his own blood.

Kai simply stood in silence. He was drawing heavy breaths. He had shown a bit too much emotion than usual this time. The sword in his tight grip was glowing like the surface of a river under the moonlight. He knew what he saw earlier was just an illusion. But his feelings had never been more real.

"Aahh...the voices...they were gone..." Zank the Executioner drew his final breath as he held a look of content, the last thing he will ever feel.

Sheathing his blade, Kai looked back, and was greeted with the sight of Tatsumi, now back up on his feet with his eyes widened, and the assassin, Akame, holding her sword pointing towards him with a hint of hostility in her stance.

He contemplated his thoughts.

He knew that the assassin wouldn't just let him walk away easily. She wouldn't give up like last time. He'll have to convince her as a friend, or they might end up as foes.

He also knew he had a lot of explaining to do, something that he doesn't really like doing. That would mean he had to talk. A lot.

He looked up at the night sky, the bright red moon shining bright in the sea of darkness. He wondered how Naoki was doing right now. He just hoped he wasn't away for too long.

Well, the night is still long.

_

**Author's Note**

**So, a wave of inspiration suddenly hit me, and this chapter ended up much longer than I thought. But I guess that's a good thing, right? Man, I need a break. It's like 3 am where I live and I really need some sleep.**

**If the fight scene wasn't that good, well I apologize. I don't have that much experience. But I hope it's at least decent. Also, some of the main characters might've also felt OOC, again, I apologize for that.**

**To be honest, the relationship between Kai and Naoki in this story is mostly influenced by the relationship between the characters of Tanjirou and his sister, Nezuko from Kimetsu no Yaiba. The only thing I did differently are their personalities: Kai was the silent one, while Naoki was emotionally the more expressive one. Plus, both my OCs aren't blood-related or anything, which means there could be a chance for a pairing, so feel free to ship.**

**There might be some more OCs that I might bring in future chapters, and more new backgrounds and variables past the source material. I'm sticking with the storyline from the anime for now, but I might consider adding some elements from the manga as well.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	8. Chapter 8

The howling winds roared.

Snow filled the barren landscape, an endless visage of white as far as the eye can see.

Mountains filled the edge of the horizon, the trees bare, the wildlife non-existent.

A lone man trekked across the snow, leaving a long trail of footprints behind. He kept a neutral look on his face, but his eyes held a burning sensation. Not too far away, a small village could be seen on the horizon, in the edge of it, a small shack with smoke rising from its chimney.

The village was only composed of a few wooden huts, an indication that not many live there. There was no one walking around, which would mean they were all taking shelters inside their homes. The man could see all the doors and windows were shut tight, even the curtains were covered.

Steadily walking towards the shack, the man smiled in content after what felt like hours of boredom through the seemingly endless winter breeze. Carefully walking on the steps, he brought his left foot up, and kicked the front door open.

The door immediately gave in with a resounding smash, allowing the man to view the interior.

The loud sound of a wooden door forcefully opened brought the attention of everyone inside. Seven men, some of them looked like criminals hiding from the law, others were tribal huntsmen simply taking shelter in the midst of the storm, and one bartender whose glass had shattered on the floor due to no longer being in his grip.

The occupants kept their gaze towards the newcomer who rudely interrupted their lunches with faint hostility. The stranger himself, however, sweeped his vision across the many eyes focused on him, and kept a calm attitude despite having so many glaring daggers at him.

The first thing the occupants noticed was the newcomer's white hair, and his bright yellow eyes matching his youthful face. He wore a dark blue trenchcoat with a brown buttoned vest and black long-sleeved shirt underneath, dark blue jeans, and black winter boots. A blue bandana was wrapped around his neck, and sheathed on his back, a suspicious looking sword, completing his rather peculiar look.

"You lost, boy? This ain't no place for young fellas like you." One of the men sitting at the table shouted towards the stranger in an effort to intimidate him, though it didn't do much, as the newcomer in question merely smiled in response.

"Excuse me, gentlemen." The voice surprised everyone, as it came from the white haired stranger. They weren't expecting such a mundane response

He calmly walked towards the bartender, the owner of this place, he assumed, ignoring the stares and taking a sit in front of the bar counter, and giving the bartender a curious look. The bartender in question tried his best to keep his facade in front of the unwelcomed stranger.

"Mind giving me a shot?" The stranger asked the bartender in a charming manner. The bartender said nothing in return, hesitant on trying to engage in a conversation with him. Pouring a shot of beer, he slid the glass towards the stranger's open palm.

The stranger drank the whole shot and slammed the glass on the hard wood. The bartender hoped he would go away as soon as possible because the stranger was drawing unfriendly looks from the rest of the occupants residing in the shack. Suddenly, as if fate was toying with him, the stranger asked the bartender a question he had never heard before.

"Tell me about the Empire."

Everyone rose an eyebrow upon hearing the stranger's words. Everyone knows about the Empire. Even those in the northern and western countries know about it despite never going there. It was a strange question indicating a layer of ignorance on the stranger's part.

It was the bartender's turn to ask a question. "You...don't know anything about the Empire?"

The stranger replied calmly, "Not much. Why, should I **know** about it?"

The bartender kept his gaze towards the stranger, looking for any signs of lying. He sighed after not finding any. Apparently he really did not know anything about the Empire.

"Listen to me, and listen well...the Empire is **hell.** The country is rotten to the core, concepts like justice is basically non-existent. The people are always oppressed, and the government are a bunch of dicks who gets off on torturing their citizens with heavy taxes and violence, and waging war against other countries just for the sake of spreading their own power, with no regard for human decency. If you're from the far north, west, east, or whatever country you're from, which is definitely better than here, **don't** come to the Empire, especially the capital. That's where all of the corruption spreads from. It's not worth it, whatever you're thinking."

The bartender stopped to take a drink after the exposition dump he just gave to the stranger. The latter, after hearing the information, held his chin and contemplated in silence, before doing the unthinkable.

He laughed. Quietly, then eventually loud enough for everyone to hear. Cackling like a madman, his response made everyone present question his state of mind.

"Really? Now I'm even **more** interested in going there. Might find myself some **fun** while I'm there. Haven't found a good challenge since I started walking south. Although, that one village had some skilled fighters...but they're all just cannon fodder in the end." The stranger spoke nonchalantly like it was the most normal thing to talk about, whilst holding his chin in a curious manner.

The bartender looked towards the stranger in shock, unsure of how to react. Furthermore, the look on the huntsmen suggested the stranger said something that might have not sit well with them. The sight of one of them preparing to draw out his knife didn't make the situation any better, in fact it only confirmed his hunches.

One of the huntsmen suddenly stood up and firmly spoke, "So..you're the one who's been attacking those villages?"

There was a silence for a brief moment, yet despite how brief it was, it felt like eternity. The stranger didn't move an inch, and merely responded, "...I'm guessing you know those men?"

There was no response, but none was needed. The white-haired stranger turned around to be greeted by the sight of all the huntsmen, now out of their chairs, and preparing to draw their weapons, the sense of killing intent permeating the air. Even the bandits have stood up and have a hint of hostility in their eyes. The bartender took a step back, realizing what was about to happen. He glanced at the stranger, who was still sitting comfortably, holding the empty shot glass in his right hand.

None of the huntsmen had brought their heavy swords and spears, only their backup knives and daggers on their waistbelt. They had never expected to meet face to face with this demon. The one who killed all those fellow warriors, some of them their friends. The villages were now without protection, no one but seniors and young children and their mothers, who couldn't even wield a sword.

Said demon remained calm. His yellow eyes darted towards each one of them, and he grinned.

"Well...they attacked me first. I thought it was a good challenge."

Silence.

Then the stranger spoke once more.

"Care to entertain me?"

A simple provocation, but it was more than enough.

The first one drew out his knife and immediately charged in, only to end up slashing the air. The stranger casually sidestepped his attack and spun around, his right hand brought the shot glass to the man's face, shattering it and drawing blood.

"Aaagghh!!!" The man attacked blindly with his right hand while holding his bloodied face with his left, a bad move. The stranger grabbed his flailing arms, and with a swift move, spun his wrist to an awkward angle, breaking it and forcing the knife to fall to the floor, or it would've if another hand didn't reach for it first.

Holding the knife in his right hand, and holding the blinded man's broken wrist with his left, he blocked an incoming attack from another huntsman armed with a dagger. The stranger kicked him with enough force to send him flying back and breaking a table, and brought the knife to the blinded man's neck.

Releasing the man, who was now gasping for air and drowning in his own blood, the stranger ducked to avoid two slashes coming from two other huntsmen. At the same time, he delivered two powerful punches to both men's abdomens, forcing them to vomit blood.

The stranger sidestepped another downward slash from the huntsman he kicked earlier, and quickly knifehanded his neck with his left hand, shattering his throat. He spun around once more and elbowed the huntsman in the back of his head, caving in the back of his skull, putting him down for good.

The two men earlier turned around, the taste of blood still present in their mouths, and began attacking the stranger once more. But the stranger was faster.

There was a gush of wind, and two bloodied severed arms, daggers still gripped tight within their palms, fell to the floor.

They tried to scream out of pain, but they never had the chance. Another horizontal slash, and both the huntsmen fell down, meeting the same bloody end as their former friend, drowning in blood.

The battle, if it can even be called one, was short, it didn't even take 10 seconds. The stranger still held the bloodied dagger in his hand, and slowly turned towards the remaining occupants in the bar who were still breathing. The bartender had made his way to the far corner, away from all the blood, but his eyes remained glued to the white haired stranger.

There were 3 left, all of them bandits, who had stood up from their seats and drew their blades forth. They weren't affiliated with the huntsmen, or with any of the native tribes in this land, but that didn't mean they should not be afraid towards this cold-blooded monster of a man. A hypocritical outlook, one could say. One of them carried a revolver, and it was aimed towards the stranger-no, demon. He pulled the hammer, ready to fire, but he wasn't sure if that was the brightest idea.

The bandit's hands were shaky, he was sweating bullets, even though it seemed like he had the upper hand. The white haired demon, didn't seem to carry any ranged weapon aside from that strange sword on his back, and that dagger he was holding, and he had him held at gunpoint. Yet, he didn't feel much safer at all. Those demonic yellow eyes struck a sense of despair and suffering that he had never felt before.

The demon smirked.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

His tone was calm, almost soothing, but it bore such potent sense of malice within each word.

The bandit proceeded to make the biggest mistake of his life.

He pulled the trigger.

**Bang**

The demon twisted his head, and effectively dodged the metal projectile, a superhuman feat. Needless to say, the bandits were shocked.

The demon slowly turned his head once more to the bandits, but his mouth was open. Strangely, smoke was coming out of his teeth. Or rather, what was between it.

The bandits widened their eyes in disbelief. The demon didn't dodge the bullet, he **caught** it in his **teeth**. And said demon was smiling.

He spit out the smoking metal to the ground.

He uttered a single, short sentence.

"You **really** should've listened."

Faster than the eye can see, the demon unsheathed his sword, and seemingly vanished into thin air.

For a moment, it felt like time suddenly stopped.

In a split second, dozens of pale blue lines appeared around the bandits, seemingly cutting through the layer of space itself, and disappeared.

There was a gush of wind, and the demon appeared once more, back in the same spot he was now, crouching and holding his sword outward. Strangely, the sword's blade was sky blue in colour, and it was glowing, there was even small crackles of electricity traveling through the blade. There was not a trace of blood on it. The demon slowly sheathed the sword back, while standing up.

The sound of flesh and bone tearing apart broke the short silence. The bandits literally fell in pieces. Their organs, bones, and flesh, all reduced to tiny slices. A vomit-inducing sight indeed. But the smile on the demon's face never wavered.

He turned towards the only remaining human alive, the bartender, who was trying his best to hold in his lunch.

The white haired demon simply shoved his hand in his pocket, and took out a silver coin. He flicked it onto the counter.

"Thanks for the drink. Now, if you'll excuse me."

His tone never changed, his smile never wavering, his eyes simply not caring. It was as if the bodies and piles of human flesh around him was never there at all. The demon turned around and headed towards the exit, while carefully walking so as to not step on the pool of blood and mutilated corpses.

He whistled an unfamiliar tune as he walked, and eventually went through the door, leaving behind the visceral scene and the mentally scarred owner of the bar.

Those eyes.

They reminded the bartender of a certain person, back when he was a simple soldier in the Empire. Before he decided to leave the capital, and live somewhere far from its influence.

Such cold, inhuman, merciless eyes, there was only one person who harbored the same look. A certain woman with pale white skin and long blue hair. The strongest person in the Empire.

General Esdeath.

If that demon turned out to be her long lost sibling or something similar, he wouldn't be surprised. The only thing different is his white hair, and his yellow irises, giving his eyes an unnatural glow.

The bartender looked towards towards the bodies. He sighed. Despite the fact this was an isolated town not many people know of, this actually wasn't the first time he had to clean up a "mess", and considering how often dangerously armed people actually come to this place, he doubt it would be the last time either.

-

The sound of whistling permeated the air.

The storm had calmed down, for now at least.

A single man trekked across the snow, his hands inside his pocket, leaving the small town behind him. The whistling tune continued to echoe across the barren white landscape.

He was dissappointed. There wasn't much of a challenge at all. He thought the tribesmen in this part of the country would be much better warriors than he anticipated, but they didn't even put up that much of a fight.

Perhaps he had gone a bit too far with slicing those bandits to mush, it wasn't like they were that much of a threat anyways. But he liked to set up an example. A message, to those brave, or stupid enough, to come to him with their blades out of their sheaths. And he was sure that bar owner would make quite a good messenger.

He wondered if this Empire would be more fun for him. He always enjoyed seeing new places. And possibly burning them down. Depending on his mood.

He **has **heard of the Empire before, usually through small talks from the occasional passerbys, but he never thought it was important. He wasn't into politics anyway. But after hearing what the bartender said...perhaps there was a lot more he wasn't aware of in the south.

The song coming out of his lips became merrier. He felt a sort of excitement, just thinking about it. After all, a city full of demons sounded like a special invitation for someone like him. His blade crackled in electricity, almost like agreeing with him.

He looked up to the sky, spots of light can be seen across the black canvas that is space. It was already nighttime.

And the night is long.

-

**Author's Note**

**So, I was gone for a while. It's been what, 2-3 weeks since I last updated this story? Yeah it was a pretty long time to update compared to my previous chapters.**

**Like**** I mentioned before, I won't be updating frequently. Sometimes in a few days, and sometimes perhaps up to a month or two. Trying to write a good story, and getting motivated enough to actually write it, is a lot harder than I imagined.****So, this isn't really a new chapter, more like a teaser for what is to come. Sorry to dissappoint you like that.**

**This**** is just a little insight into one of the potential major antagonists in this fic, also another OC I made. Who exactly is he? Can't tell now, all we can be sure of is he's a bad guy, and he will definitely show up in future chapters.****How strong is this guy going to be? Won't spoil anything just yet, but uhhh...just imagine Vergil from Devil May Cry, but with less self-control. Yeah, something like that.**

**If you're wondering what song the character was whistling, look up Twisted Nerve by Bernard Herrmann. Or just look up the whistle song from Kill Bill.**

**Sayonara.**


	9. Chapter 9

The night was dark.

The enchanting visage of the red moon shone brightly in the vast sea of darkness, its light illuminating the earth below. The sound of silence permeated the air.

In the middle of said silence, stood three figures, one of them harboring a hostile intent.

The blade of the cursed sword, Murasame, shone brightly under the moonlight, its hilt held tightly inside the steel grip of the black haired assassin.

Akame's stare never wavered from her prime target, the anomaly in front of her whose identity, purpose, and capabilities remain a mystery.

She hated mysteries. When the true nature of something remains unknown, it could turn on you without yourself realizing it, and become your downfall. Such is why Night Raid plays an important role in the Revolutionary Army. The strongest weapon in war, is information.

So when something presents itself while being an unknown, without the proper information, it could mean a disadvantage towards the army, and a threat to their cause.

Such is the case of the silent swordsman in front of her, whose stare remained passive, calm, _empty_.

She had always been regarded as the least expressive among her teammates, always prioritizing the mission above anything else, even her own emotions. But this feeling of emptiness, it was strange, unnerving even to her. Like staring into the eyes of a puppet without strings.

She felt a warmth on her shoulder, causing her to look back to be greeted by Tatsumi's concerned face, stained with the dried blood that flowed from between his lips. However, his next sentence, was unexpected by her.

"Akame, don't...don't hurt him, he's a friend.."

A friend to him, perhaps, but still an unknown to her. One who was somehow capable of holding her **back** in a duel. A mere nobody couldn't have possessed such a skill. Such conclusion was what worried her, an implication that this stranger could be an assassin, a mercenary, or worse, an high-ranking soldier of the Empire.

She understood his concern, but the swordsman had escaped her grasp once, and she wasn't intending on letting that happen again. If brute force is necessary, then so be it.

"I know what you're thinking, and I won't allow it, not this time." Akame said, loud enough for the silent swordsman to hear. She was careless before, but she will not let this enigma of a man walk away easily this time.

**_**

Kai was deep in thought.

The girl known as Akame, and Takumi-no wait, Tatsumi, may be seeing him as if seeing a statue, but what they did not know was deep inside, he was anything but quiet.

He could explain his current situation and hopefully, have Night Raid accept him and Naoki as well, since he couldn't leave her alone, and he knew he couldn't protect her all the time.

Or, he could try running again if he felt the time is not yet right to expose himself to this war, and risk destroying whatever trust the assassin might have on him, because the next time they might meet again, they would be on opposite sides of the battlefield, holding their blades against each other's necks. And he couldn't have that happening. He hadn't gauged Night Raid's full capabilities yet, so it would be quite reckless for him to make an enemy out of them right now.

Naoki suddenly came to mind. Kai knew that she needed someone to rely on, somewhere to call her home, and she wouldn't be able to make it alone, not in her current state. Additionally, he couldn't be around all the time to watch out for her, not while he was in one of his night routines, which unfortunately left him with only one possible option, for her sake.

Kai slowly turned his hands up, palms open, a sign of surrender.

**_**

Akame saw the swordsman putting his hands in the air, his eyes devoid of any harmful intents, a possible sign that he didn't want to fight. Though it could be a mere trick.

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. It didn't make sense for him to suddenly surrender, when she knew that he was capable enough to simply run away like last time, not that she intend to let that happen again, but still. However, the swordsman, so far, had not shown any murderous intent, or even any form of hostility towards her and Tatsumi.

Deciding to simply trust her gut, Akame finally sheathed Murasame, eliciting a sigh of relief from Tatsumi. He was probably expecting another unwanted violent clash to happen.

She felt a gentle warmth on her shoulder, courtesy of Tatsumi's hand. "Let me...let me talk to him. There could be a reason why he came here, so...maybe I could convince him to join us?" He said softly. Akame looked at him with a weird gaze.

"We don't know anything about him. He could be a spy."

"If he was, he wouldn't have helped us, would he?"

Tatsumi's answer did make some sense, but Akame knew she couldn't drop her suspicions that easily. She sighed, before eventually relenting with his request.

"If he tries anything funny, I won't hesitate."

Akame's response was anything but soft, but that's just how she is. Tatsumi slowly nodded, and turned towards the main attention of the night: the swordsman. He didn't know Kai that well, no, that would be an understatement. He only knew his _name_, and nothing else. Even then, despite them barely knowing each other, Kai had saved his life once from Akame's cursed blade, and even came back to him tonight when he was at his most vulnerable to aid him against Znk the Executioner.

So maybe, there's a chance, Tatsumi thought, he could convince the swordsman to come with him, and not walk away again like before.

"Kai."

Tatsumi spoke, loud enough for Kai to hear.

"Listen...I'm part of Night Raid now, and I'm sure you've heard of them before."

Kai raised an eyebrow upon hearing Tatsumi's declaration. So he's an assassin now? Well, perhaps that might be better than being a loyal military dog serving the Empire, at least in his view. He should've seen this coming, honestly. The boy had genuine combat potential, and it was only a matter of time before he ended up holding a sword on one side of the battlefield.

"And whatever bad things you might've probably heard about Night Raid, they were untrue. We only kill those who deserved it, such as heartless psychopaths and **scum** of the Empire who had no empathy for the innocents, whose lives they destroy!"

Tatsumi's tone now had more emotion than before. Images of Sayo and Ieyasu flashed into his mind, but he fought hard to keep in the tears.

"The Empire is a terrible place, filled to the brim with corruption and evil, but you should've realized that by now, haven't you? All the horrible public executions, criminals who got away scot-free with their crimes, and the brutality practiced by the Imperial police, surely you've seen all that!!"

It hurts him to admit it, but Kai had indeed seen all that. It was the reason he always go out every night for a "stroll" at the capital. Of course, part of the reason was to get more supplies for himself and Naoki, since they couldn't stay at the capital, or at least, she couldn't. But his primary intent was to seek out criminal scum who prey upon the innocent and the weak during the night, and put an end to their reign of terror, permanently.

As he was lost in thought, Tatsumi's voice broke him out of it.

"I..no, **we **seek to end all of that, to create a country free of oppression. And that's how the Revolutionary Army came to be. We intend to overthrow the current government, and create our own, one that is fair to its people. But even an army could only do so much against an entire empire, that's why Night Raid is here! We do what others couldn't, working in the shadows to serve the light, and our primary target is Prime Minister Honest, because the only way to get rid of the corruption, is by cutting off its **head**!!"

Kai was quite surprised at Tatsumi's speech, though he didn't show it. He could feel the rage contained within each word he spoke, never had he seen Tatsumi so emotional before, since the "incident" about a week ago. But he could understand such emotion. Such raw hatred for evil. He could honestly feel the same.

"That's why I joined Night Raid. To prevent more people from getting hurt, from dying. To stop all the madness from ever repeating again. I know that..being an assassin, means I will have to bear the consequences of my actions, but I know that what I'm doing is the right thing! And I don't care if anyone says otherwise, because this is my choice, and I won't regret it!! Because I'm doing this for the people, and for my village, and...for Sayo...**sob**...Ieyasu..." His words faded to sobs, Tatsumi finally couldn't hold back his tears anymore.

"...that's why...I'm asking you...as a _friend_...join us, please, join Night Raid!" He shouted the last sentence with his remaining breath, followed by a hasty bow.

Akame simply watched in silence, as she wasn't sure the proper thing to say in this situation. Tatsumi's speech was quite shocking to her as well, every word he conveyed as genuine as possible, with as much emotion as possible. But she wasn't sure how the swordsman, Kai, would react. Her eyes darted towards the aforementioned person, whose expression remained blank.

Despite his blank face, deep within Kai was, surprisingly, baffled by the display. He could hear the sincerity in Tatsumi's voice and his gesture, asking him, _pleading_ to him, to listen. And did he just called him a _friend_? Even though they've only known each other briefly?

Such naivety. He may fight for a greater good, but no way was he going to be "friends" with anyone. Naoki was a special case. She was his responsibility. And until she has learned to fight and survive by herself, he'll have to stick with her for now. But he wouldn't have her following him until the end of time. He'll have to leave her someday, so she could live her own life. Everywhere he goes, death followed one step behind. He wouldn't wish such a cursed way of living to anybody.

Kai was quite hesitant to consider allying with anyone, since he had always been a lone wolf. But Tatsumi said that this Night Raid shared a great cause, one that he had no qualms with. And he knew the boy wouldn't lie, he could see it in his eyes. Eyes that possessed a strong willpower, a hail of determination stronger than the largest storms, a dream for a brighter tomorrow that cannot be faltered. He could see it all. And it fascinated him. A pure soul.

Maybe there is still purity in this broken world after all.

And now he knew the right decision to make.

"I will."

'Huh?'

Tatsumi's eyes widened. He recognized that voice. And he could tell whose voice it was.

Slowly raising his head, he stared at the enigmatic swordsman. Kai stood there unmoving, for a while, before he suddenly raised a finger to his eye level.

"On one condition."

-

'One condition? Does he have something to ask from us?' Tatsumi was perplexed at the swordsman's last sentence. He didn't get the chance to ask him, however, when Akame's hand suddenly gripped his shoulder.

"We need to go now. The police are coming." Her voice was stern, and he knew she was right.

Tatsumi tried to make a run for it, but the wounds he sustained had drained much of his energy, forcing him to fall to his knees. As he silently cursed himself for being this weak, he felt his body being lifted by one other than the black haired assassin.

"Wha-hold on!! What are you-whoa!!" Tatsumi became flustered by Akame's actions. He was being carried bridal-style by her as she jumped onto the rooftops, just in time to avoid the oncoming imperial police's eyes. It was surprising to him how agile **and** strong the assassin was, as she was able to carry him and run away as fast as she could from where they were standing.

Safely landing far away from the murder scene, Akame stood atop a tower, staring back at where Zank the Executioner's cropse was. The scene they fled from was now occupied with the imperial police scouts, who were surprised to see the corpse of the infamous serial killer, and _his _killer nowhere to be found.

"Umm...you can let me down now." Akame looked back at her friend who was in her arms, his face now red like a tomato, for reasons unknown to her. Though she did hear him the first time. She eventually released him, letting him drop to the cold surface without a resounding smack.

"Ow!! Man, being carried by a woman on her arms...how low could I get?" Tatsumi painfully spoke to himself, thinking how embarassing the visual must've been for him. His eyes darted to Akame, whose expression remained passive. Apparently she didn't realize just what was it that made him flushed. A strange woman indeed.

Speaking of strange..."Hey, where's Kai?"

Tatsumi's question hit Akame like a brick. Her eyes began frantically scanning her surroundings, before she eventually spotted a lone figure standing on a rooftop of a building, far away from where they were.

The lone swordsman's face was devoid of emotion, as it always was, but his eyes kept locking with hers. Almost like he was trying to tell something. Before she could answer the question herself, Kai suddenly turned around and began running the opposite direction. But he wasn't as fast as he displayed before.

Her mind came to a conclusion.

"I found him...I think, he wants us to follow him."

Akame's statement only made Tatsumi even more bewildered than before.

"Follow him? To where?"

Akame took a glance at Tatsumi, more importantly, his physical condition.

"Can you still move?"

Tatsumi didn't answer.

"Need me to carry you again?"

Now his face was flushed red. She still didn't understand why.

-

-

The crackling of burning wood filled the silent atmosphere of the lush forest.

A lone figure sat alone on a log of wood, her eyes affixed to the mystical dance of flames, the only thing interesting to watch at this time of night, in her thoughts.

It wasn't exactly the fire itself she was focused on. Her mind was in a different place entirely.

Naoki held a feeling of contempt, mostly directed towards herself. Her hand gripped tightly on the hilt of her dagger. She knew it was going to take a while before she could really fight. With her skills right now, it would be a miracle for her to even be accepted into the military as a new cadet.

She took out a small mirror from her pocket, one of the few things from home she still had in her possession after fleeing from the capital. Looking into the mirror, she saw her own reflection, and for a brief moment, an image of her past self overlapped with her own.

She had changed so much in a single week. Gone were the sparkling eyes, gone were the happy smile, gone were the girl she used to be. All of that was shunned forever, after the day her parents were falsely accused of treason, all because of that sly imperial officer and his hatred towards people of the north. Towards "outsiders" like her. And because of that, her family...they were all...

Naoki shook away her thoughts as soon as possible, wiping the formed tears dry. She had to be stronger now. She had vowed to take revenge, not just against the Imperial Police but against the capital, and against the Empire itself, and no one else will talk her out of it.

It may have been a hasty and reckless choice, dedicating one's life to vengeance, but anyone else would've chosen the same in her shoes.

Looking at the bright moon, she thought that mayber there was still time to hone her skills. But there was nothing here that she could use as target practice, unless she start hurting the trees instead. And Kai had told her before not to leave the campsite unless it was deemed necessary. She would hate to let him down.

As if lady luck decided to play with her, her dilemma was answered, in the form of a loud sound of broken twigs coming from behind her. Followed by a monstrous growl.

Instinctively, she turned around, daggers unsheathed, sweat forming on her forehead.

Three eyes, yellowish fur, two large horns protruding over its head, and very sharp teeth. There's no mistake about it. It was a Jackaleo. One even bigger than the last one she faced. She didn't even know they could get much bigger than they already were.

But that shouldn't be possible. She was sure that Kai had already wiped out all Danger Beasts in the area. So how could there still be one left-

'Wait a minute.'

Naoki's mind came to a horrifying realization. Here she was, all alone, against a Danger Beast that was way out of her league, **and Kai wasn't here**.

She was all alone.

Her heart stopped for a brief moment. And a moment was all it took.

The beast leapt.

Utilizing every bit of her experience, she rolled out of the way, the beast's claws barely missing her hair by a needle's breadth.

Regaining her stance, she held the daggers high, waiting for another attack. The Jackaleo growled with clear hostility, but refrained from leaping once more. The beast simply circled around her, while she did the same. Neither decided to attack first. Both locked eyes to one another, trapped in a circular motion, each step made with precision.

'This thing...it's smart.' Naoki thought to herself, eyeing the beast. She saw several slash wounds on its body, some of them even looked relatively recent. The beast have had experience. It was waiting for her to attack first, to expose her own opening so that it could strike with its razor claws.

She was wondering what to do. It was clear this Danger Beast was intent on killing her, and was simply waiting for the right opportunity to strike. She could try and dodge all of its attacks, but it'll wear her out eventually. And if she began slowing down, it won't be pretty.

On another side note, she could try and stall time until Kai came back so that he could deal with the beast instead.

Remembering Kai, she recalled what he once said, to her.

'Will I ever be strong enough?'

_'You will.'_

Her gaze hardened. She promised to herself that she would get stronger. She's had enough of being weak all the time. Being helpless. Being unable to fight back. Being weak.

If she can't kill a damn animal, she's better off dead than vengeful.

Naoki twisted the dagger in her left grip, eliciting an alarmed response from the Danger Beast. And with a swift motion, the blade was no longer in her palm.

The dagger raced across the air, nearly hitting the beast's left foreleg, though it managed to avoid it. But that wasn't her intention.

The Jackaleo had broken its sights on her in a single moment, and a moment was enough.

She dashed forwards, and without hesitation, slashed at the beast's right eye. The beast roared in pain, and leaped backwards to recover, but she wouldn't let it. She sprinted once more, and with a bit of luck, managed to evade the beast's deadly claws. She rolled forwards, and quickly stabbed at the beast's right rib, the blade piercing right into its lung.

The beast roared once more, and desperately tried to claw at its enemy, to no avail. Naoki swiftly rolled away from its reaches, but she was now without a weapon, her last dagger still stuck to where she last wounded the Danger Beast.

A glint of light greeted the corners of her eyes, and her attention immediately focused on the source of the light. The dagger she threw earlier was still on the ground, and still usable. IPutting stamina into her legs, she leaped towards it, her palm reaching out.

Immediately feeling the cold metal in her fingers, she saw a large shadow looming over her, and realized what it was. Frantically turning around, she saw the Jackaleo, its jaws now wide open revealing its set of razor sharp teeth, speeding towards where her head would be. Her instincts kicked in.

Holding the dagger up and directed frontward, the beast's momentum forced its head into the reaches of the dagger, where its sharp edge made its way through its middle eye, and directly into the skull and into its brain.

The Jackaleo roared once more, its remaining eye widening in shock as it realized it was about to die. It painfully tried to take a bite at the human who managed to outdo itself, pushing its legs forward and dragging the human across the dirt. But the human's grip on the blade didn't falter one bit, and using what remained of her own strength, pushed the dagger in deeper.

The Danger Beast finally let out one last roar, before it was reduced to mere whimpers. Dropping to the ground, its vision eventually faded, the image of a girl in red and black becoming the last thing it will ever see.

Naoki looked at the corpse of the Danger Beadt in front of her. Her breaths were ragged, and she felt like passing out, not from tiredness, but from excitement.

She did it. She had won against the beast. All by herself. Staring into her hands, trembling from all the adrenaline, she let out a coarse chuckle.

Her first kill. And it felt really good.

If only Kai was here to see this, he would definitely be proud of her.

Her ears picked up the sound of a gush of wind, coming from behind her. She turned around, and to her surprise, there he was.

Speak of the devil.

Her eyes became watery upon seeing the calm face of the swordsman. Naoki didn't know why, but whenever she saw his face, she felt relieved, and at peace. Like nothing was wrong in the world. If only that were true. Feeling the rush of energy leaving her body, she began feeling like being weighed upon a ton of rocks on her head.

Yet, despite her exhaustion, she mustered up every ounce of her remaining strength to smile at the swordsman. To let him know that she finally managed to become stronger.

The swordsman's face never changed, but Naoki knew how he would feel inside.

He suddenly began walking slowly towards her, to her surprise. He stood right in front of her, and without a warning, placed his open palm gently on her head. She was a bit shocked, but upon seeing his eyes, she realized something seemed different. His eyes remained the same bright shade of yellow, but the way they stare into her, it wasn't a look of mere acknowledgement, a look of hostility, but one of relief, and pride. A look that would say, 'You did well.'

She was right.

And she returned said look, with a smile. The most genuine one she had.

No words were spoken between the two, but none were needed.

Unbeknownst to her, two other figures were present that night, as they were silently watching the emotional moment from afar.

Tatsumi was shocked beyond words. He had no idea who the girl in front of Kai is, but it looked like they were close. Could she be his girlfriend? His sister? But in his mind, both options seemed absurd. Kai didn't seem like the kind of person to actually have a sister, or even any family member at all, and the thought of him having a girlfriend was just pushing fate itself. How could any woman be interested in him? The guy spoke like, a sentence a day.

Akame, however, had a different train of thought. Whoever the girl was, she was obviously important to Kai. This was probably the "one condition" he mentioned earlier. Which would mean, Night Raid would possibly have not one, but **two** new members tonight.

For the first time in a long time, she let out a mental sigh. Such a long night.

-

-

**Author's Note**

**Man, this took quite a while to write, despite how short it was. I definitely need to stop getting distracted and get better. Maybe read some novels.**

**So, not much going on in this chapter, accept Naoki had a bit of action and Kai deciding to join Night Raid, with the former possibly joining as well. If you expected a lot more from this chapter, I'm sorry to disappoint. But I'll try to make next chapter more interesting. And it ought to be, since the wandering swordsman will finally meet the rest of the main cast in person.**

**When the next chapter would be...I don't know. This isn't the only story I'm writing right now. I'm also writing a Doom/Monster Musume crossover in case you guys didn't know, and it hasn't have that many chapters yet, but feel free to check it out.**

**As always, thanks for reading.**


	10. Chapter 10

For one second, it was dark.

And in the next, she was awake.

Her eyes were greeted by a warm ray of sunlight. Her face was pale, sweat formed across her forehead. Her breaths ragged and uneven.

Another nightmare, it seemed. She grasped her face, sorrow in her mind.

It was so vivid. Her parents' faces, pale as a blue moon, devoid of emotion, their lifeless eyes merely staring towards her. Burrowing deep into her fragile soul. Until it shattered, like glass.

It might've been just a dream, but the pain couldn't have been more real. Yet, she stopped the tears from leaking, wiping away her eyes in a hurry. Crying wouldn't change anything.

Naoki stared at her hands. Hands that had been stained in blood.

She was a fugitive now. An enemy of the Empire. Her name was simply another list on their bounty. Her life, now marked for death.

And she didn't care. Not anymore.

Taking a look at the surroundings, she felt relief for the first time since what felt like forever. The room wasn't big, nor was it a beauty to look at, but at least it was better than spending another night in the forest.

Walking out of the comfort of the bed, while only in her grey blouse and blue shorts, she looked into a nearby mirror. Looking into her reflection, she noted her unkempt hair, her baggy eyes, and her overall disheveled appearance.

She failed to see the girl that used to be herself. Not like it mattered anymore, anyway.

She began caressing her shoulder-length hair, which now resembled a thumbleweed more than anything. Perhaps something could be done about it.

A gust of wind followed, and her thoughts were broken.

Turning towards the open window behind her, she saw a familiar face, with striking yellow eyes.

Kai sat still, his expression remained as stoic as always, but she was already used to it. Despite so, she could feel his concern. And she greeted him with a smile.

"I'm fine. Just give me a minute."

A vague answer, but for the swordsman, it was enough. He leapt away from the window, leaving Naoki to herself.

As the sun slowly rose from the horizon, she realized it was time for training. There was no helping it, she was a part of _them_ now.

Two nights ago. That's when it began. When she finally became an assassin.

* * *

Shining under the dim light of dawn, hidden in the vast expanse of lush greens, built under a the side of a mountain, lay the stone fortress belonging to the most wanted group of criminals in the entire Empire.

Night Raid.

Atop the steep mountain, a young blonde woman stood, her gaze hardening towards the seemingly endless forest down below. Her only company being the calm night breeze.

Leone, one of the more aggressive members of Night Raid, well known for her inhuman strength and brutal ferocity, held a look of concern directed towards the horizon. She reminisced the events of the last few hours that led her this way.

After finding the corpse of Zank the Executioner, everyone was sure that Akame or Tatsumi were the ones who finished the job, since they were separated earlier. Although that begs the question, where did they go afterwards?

So they gathered at the spot they agreed to rendevzous at, and waited for the duo's arrival.

And waited.

And waited.

But they never came.

Tensions began rising among them, as Mine suspected they may have gotten captured by the Empire, despite how unlikely such a circumstance would sound like, since Akame's skills were nothing to be scoffed at. Bulat however, surmised that Tatsumi might've been the one in danger, and Akame was forced to go after him by herself.

But even that explanation wouldn't do Akame justice. Everyone knew her as one who would prioritize the mission first and foremost, and rarely would she ever act recklessly even during emergencies. She would've returned to inform the rest of the team beforehand if Tatsumi indeed were captured, but she wasn't the type to run off and risk everything by herself.

Eventually the blackness of the sky began to light up in a brighter shade of blue, indicating that night had come to an end. The members of Night Raid had no choice but to return to their base, with or without their two missing members, lest they attract more unwanted attention from the Imperial Police.

As the light of dawn bathes the landscape, everyone was filled with unease, unsure of the fate of their two precious members. Najenda, the leader of Night Raid, had begun planning a reconnaissance mission on the Capital which would involve all members, in an effort to unravel the truth behind both Akame and Tatsumi's disappearance.

It may sound like a hasty decision, but desperate times call for very desperate measures. They couldn't afford to lose two valuable members so early in this war, not when victory was still far from their reach.

So distraught were they in their predicament, that the rest of Night Raid failed to notice the shocked expression on Lubbock's face, for a distinct reason.

"Guys! I felt something outside hitting my wires!"

"Huh!?"

Their ongoing dilemma was cut to a halt. Lubbock's wires detecting movement outside their base could usually only mean one of two things.

Either it was a stray animal which just happened to stumble upon one of the wires, or their missing members may have signaled their return, as unlikely as both possibilities sounded. Or worse.

Someone had found their secret hideout, someone they may not be too fond of. Imperial scouts, bandits or others alike.

The chances were highly improbable, but not impossible. And they couldn't dismiss those odds.

"Everyone, you know what to do."

Najenda made her call. And in her mind, it was the right one. Everyone immediately grabbed their Teigus and headed outside. They could be in for one heck of a fight.

**-**

"A..Akame?"

Rare it was, to hear the blonde fighter thoroughly stunned by anything, a notion shared by the rest of Night Raid.

They expected a fight. However, their supposed unwelcomed guests were far more bizzare.

But for all the wrong reasons.

Leone stood slightly agape, obviously puzzled, not only because her missing teammates had returned after a long night of absence, one covered in bandages and looking pale, and the other slightly wounded, already raising some warning flags. Rather, her attention quickly fell onto the two silhouettes behind them.

One of which bore a familiar looking emotionless face, one she never expected to see again. And bright yellow eyes.

In the midst of the sea of silence, Mine decided to break the tension.

"Akame!! Tatsumi!! Where in the world have you two been!? And...who the hell are **those** two!?"

Being essentially half human, half animal, Leone's senses were far more sensitive than normal humans. As such, it wasn't peculiar for her to notice a tone of slight fear in Mine's voice, along with her fingers slightly twitching, as if aching to pull out her Teigu, Pumpkin.

The same could be said for other Night Raid members. Bulat, fully clad in his armor Incursio, seemed quite adamant to put his Neuntote to good use. Lubbock did not have his usual carefree expression, instead looking downright anxious with sweat forming on his forehead. Sheele, with her Extase unsheathed, simply held a passive look, yet her stance implied caution.

It was rare to see Night Raid so agitated towards an anomaly, and Leone could understand why.

The two strangers, one a young man and the other a girl, had weapons sheathed on them. The fact that Akame and especially Tatsumi seemed badly wounded, somehow implied that they got into serious trouble last night, either during their fight against Zank, or more worryingly, because of the former two.

The young raven haired girl with a dark red hooded cloak held a hostile look in her eyes, which never meant any good. The swordsman beside her, however, kept a calm expression, seemingly unperturbed by the situation.

And yet, it was the latter that presented the bigger threat. Perhaps it was those striking eyes of his.

The eyes of an experienced killer. One that could tell many stories, none of which would be pleasant to hear.

"Wait!!"

Tatsumi spoke out. He saw Night Raid's unfriendly expressions, and knew it was a bad sign. He needed to defuse the tension. His team needed an explanation, and a good one at that.

"I can explain...we had some trouble with Zank the Executioner earlier. But the mission's accomplished."

"That's not what we're worried about."

Bulat's correction was on spot. It wasn't strange to suffer injuries during missions. What **was** strange, was the sight of two unknowns, both armed, who managed to somehow find their way into a hidden base within the mountains, that no one outside Night Raid should know of.

Tatsumi knew what Bulat meant, and he wasn't slow to answer.

"Don't worry, these two are friends. They helped us treat our wounds. They wanted to help our cause and join our team. Please accept them. They mean no harm, really." Tatsumi's plea was something none of Night Raid expected to hear.

Having two additional members would be beneficial to their cause, that's for sure. Then again, the threat of them possibly being Imperial spies didn't bode very well amongst most of the team.

The only person, who didn't share the same thought, was Leone.

"Alright!!! Welcome to the team!"

The others, especially Mine, were not amused.

"Wha-Wait!! Leone, Why should we accept those strangers? we know nothing about them!" Mine exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Mine. I _know_ that guy."

**"Eh?"**

Now _that_ got quite a reaction from the rest.

"Yeah! He's the one I told you guys about before! You know, the one who fought Akame and ran?"

"_That _guy!?" Lubbock shouted out of sheer disbelief, eyeing the swordsman head to toe. The man who managed to get on equal grounds with Akame, the deadliest assassin in the Revolutionary Army, was someone who looked like a homeless beggar?

Granted, there was that weird-looking sword he had on his side, but still...

"Yeah! He's a nice guy, I think. Not much of a talker too. Well, I've never seen the girl beside him though...maybe it's his girlfriend, or-"

"Wait, Leone. If what you said was true, then shouldn't we be even more cautious of this man? Especially considering we know how skilled he is." Bulat stepped in.

"Yeah, not to mention...that girl beside him..she seemed quite eager to show off her daggers, don't you think?" Lubbock chimed in, noting the red hooded girl beside the swordsman, whose sharp eyes and defensive stance..seemed to indicate unhealthy intentions.

"Maybe she's just..scared of us? We're all a bunch of armed assassins though, the most wanted in the entire Empire. Maybe it would help if we...cozy up to them a bit?" Sheele timidly responded.

"So, what do we do?" Lubbock asked. The team had a moment of silence.

"Wait!! Don't tell me we're actually considering this!?" Once again, broken by Mine.

"To be frank, Mine, we could always use more manpower for our cause. Having two additions to our team could be a huge advantage on our side, assuming they're _trustworthy_, of course." Bulat remarked. Afterwards, he strolled forward, towards Akame and Tatsumi, who had been silent the whole time.

"Akame, Tatsumi, are you **sure** we can trust these two? You know what's at stake, right?"

Both answered without hesitation.

"Yes." "With my life."

Bulat narrowed his eyes. That was quite a bold statement from Tatsumi, but the boy had always been honest and daring, if a bit stubborn. That's why he was different from so many others.

He turned towards the swordsman and his student. In a flash, his armor disappeared, leaving behind a tall well-built man with a quite extravagant hairstyle, and a smile on his face.

"In that case, welcome to Night Raid." He calmly stated, extending forward a hand towards the two strangers, a sign of trust.

Surprisingly, the swordsman responded in kind, with his own.

* * *

**CLASH**

Metals struck one another, the sounds of their clashing echoing across the open field. With each clash, another second of pause arrived.

Hard gasps could be heard, coming from the raven haired girl, armed with daggers. Her opponent? The emotionless swordsman, who seemed rather unfazed by her attacks.

Beside the two, there were a few spectators. Lubbock, along with Sheele, Bulat and Mine, silently watched as Naoki desperately tried to land even a single scratch on her mentor, Kai.

The result thus far, had not been satisfactory, to say the least.

It was almost like watching an ant trying to win a fight against a lion, a ridiculously unfair fight, and a hopeless struggle to see the ant managing to hurt the lion in any way without being trampled.

"Guys...how long has it been?" Bulat asked.

Mine was quick to answer. "I think it's been..2 hours, tops."

"This is kinda depressing to watch." Lubbock mused.

"Like you could do any better." Mine's venomous words struck deep into Lubbock's heart. That wasn't a fair comparison after all given his skills and his Teigu.

Sheele, however, kept stoic. Her eyes were more focused on the swordsman. His demeanor. His eyes. His movements. Everything he did, felt natural for him.

For the swordsman, drawing a sword and taking a life, is almost the same as merely breathing.

As he deflected a flying dagger towards his face, courtesy of Naoki, Kai impassively diverted his stare towards his side. For a brief moment, his eyes locked on to Sheele's.

And for a brief moment, she could see herself within the reflection of his irises. With the same cold, impassive stare.

**"Aaaahhh!!!"** **CLANG**

The crimson blade shone brightly under the sunlight, locked in place by Naoki's dagger. Kai eyed his companion, noting her increasing recklessness.

She was breathing heavily, her hands were shaking from pain, and her skin covered in sweat. She seemed ready to faint, yet her spirit refused to back down. Determination is a powerful drive, but too much of it can prove fatal.

Kai applied more pressure, forcing Naoki to be pushed backwards. In a split second, she twisted around and rolled to the side, mildly surprising the former. He assumed she was trying to flank him from a different angle.

Unknown to himself, she had a different reason to do so.

Her left hand still held on to her dagger, but her right was filled with a handful of soil from the ground. Swiping forward, she threw the soil to the air.

For a fraction of a second, Kai was caught unprepared. He wasn't expecting a fistful of earth to be thrown to his face. But he retaliated by slashing the dust cloud in half, the sheer force of his blade pushing the surrounding dust away, restoring his limited vision.

By the time he was done however, she was no longer where she was supposed to be. Unfortunately for the latter, he knew what was coming next.

Kai immediately lowered his body, extending his foot and knocking Naoki's own, tackling her to the ground. What followed was a painfully resounding thud.

"Aachk!!" Desperately, she tried to gather her senses and rolled to the side, but a sharp feeling directed to her neck caused her thoughts to cease.

She looked upwards, and there he stood. His eyes as sharp as ever, and his sword just barely touching her skin. She was irritated. Her strategy didn't work as well as she thought.

What was she thinking? Of course it wouldn't have worked. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. She was still leagues below him. She should've seen it coming from a mile away. Perhaps she just wasn't cut out to be a fighter?

Kai took a moment to process Naoki's actions. Even though she still lacked in experience when it comes to direct combat, she knew how to use seemingly underhanded tactics to gain an advantage. There's nothing wrong with that. There are no rules in a fight to the death.

She threw her dagger towards him when he wasn't looking, with near perfect accuracy. It could've killed him, or at least wounded him, but she knew he could've blocked it. Then she tried to incapacitate his sight with a handful of soil and from behind. Again, a clever move, which might've worked on lesser opponents.

'She is learning faster than I expected.'

Naoki released a heavy sigh. She was dreadfully tired. Standing up, she released her dagger, and calmly walked away. Or she would've, if it weren't for a hand stopping her.

She could feel his hand on her shoulder. Did she do something wrong? Did she forget something?

"New hairstyle?"

Oh. So he noticed. She had tied her hair like a braided bun and finished it with a little red ribbon. Just like how her mother used to tie it for her, when she was younger and couldn't do it herself.

She quickly dismissed those memories as fast as she could.

"Yeah."

"It's nice."

She was surprised by his answer, but was grateful for it. She mustered up a weak response.

"Thanks."

And walked back inside. She could use some rest, maybe a cup of coffee as well.

Kai stared at her back for much longer than he thought. He could tell she was mad, but at who? Maybe he was too harsh? He was sure he went soft enough. Otherwise her training wouldn't have been very effective. Then again, it could've been something else.

He wasn't really sure. Observing people's emotions had never been his strong suit.

He felt something else tugging at him. Like the sharp feeling of being watched by a hundred eyes. He then remembered their fight had an audience.

He twisted his head towards the eyeing crowd, surprising the latter. They had a look of tension on their faces, before suddenly turning away from him, breaking their eye contact.

Strange. Was it something on his face? Then why aren't they saying anything?

"Psst, guys, he's looking at us. What do we do?" Lubbock silently whispered.

"Shut up and just act stupid." Mine responded.

"...wait, why are we even looking away? I thought he's a part of us now?" Sheele curiously pointed out. And she immediately got 'shushed' by the others.

"...you know, Sheele's got a point. Why are we even still standing here anyway?" Bulat pointed out, much to the others' dismay.

-

As Naoki walked back to the Night Raid's base, she noted another presence coming in the opposite direction of her.

She had seen her face before. Akame, one of the deadliest members of Night Raid. And among the most wanted in the Empire. The price on her head was staggering.

She also noted the assassin's weapon. A curved, single edged sword, with a red hilt. Is that one of the so-called legendary weapons that once belonged to the Empire's greatest warriors? How could it have fallen to the hands of their enemy?

The deadly swordsman continued walking, ignoring Naoki. She seemed cold, emotionless, her red eyes almost piercing through everything it sees. Almost reminding her of a certain someone.

"Are you alright?"

Another female's voice surprised her, as she was lost in thought. Naoki turned to see the head of Night Raid, Najenda. Her white hair, prosthetic arm, and imposing aura somehow made her even more intimidating than she already was.

"Ah, I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

"Curious about Akame?" Najenda's question was shocking, as if the Night Raid leader knew exactly what she was thinking before.

"She doesn't talk alot, and sometimes you rarely even see her react towards anything. We're all used to it by now, but since you're a new member, I'm just reminding you, don't be afraid of her. She would never hurt one of her own. And you're apart of us now, remember?"

Najenda frankly seemed like a really nice person, which was not something Naoki expected from a leader of the most wanted assassination group in the entire Empire. Nevertheless, she decided to respond the same way.

"I remember. Thank you again, for accepting me."

"Say...I am slightly curious about your friend. Kai was his name, wasn't it? What can you tell me about him?"

Najenda's question, unsurprisingly, was one that Naoki found herself struggling to answer. Mostly because, she herself didn't really know the true answer to that.

"Well..what can I say, he's...man of few words as well."

"Hmm...so I noticed."

Najenda narrowed her eyes. Naoki seemed trustworthy enough. Just another poor victim of the Empire's inhuman mistreatment of its own people. But Kai...he was truly an enigma. Didn't seem like someone from the Empire, which would mean he was a foreigner. But from where?

And if he really was, _why _is he here, of all places?

\--

"I want a rematch."

Akame voiced out, loud enough for everyone in the base to hear.

"Eh? / What? / Akame, seriously? / Oh, this should be fun." The members of Night Raid said respectively.

It wasn't normal to see the Demon Sword swordsman challenging someone else, especially one of their own. But perhaps the most interesting thing, is _who_ she was challenging.

Kai simply stood in silence, his expression as blank as ever. For some reason, seeing his face remaining unchanged, as if he didn't hear what she just said, slightly irritated her. Was that how she often look like when she engages a mission? Was this how her other teammates sometimes feel?

"Did you hear me? I said I want a rematch!"

Kai began raising an eyebrow. Rematch? What rematch?

Oh, right. They _fought_ before. He just forgot about it. Why would she want a rematch? From what he's observed, Akame is one of, if not the most skilled assassin Night Raid has, and their greatest trump card. What else did she have to do to prove her own strength?

Oh well, he assumed he could still go on for one more sparring session. But he needed to go hunt something soon. Shinku is getting thirsty again.

Kai simply nodded.

Now it was Akame's turn to raise an eyebrow. Was that a sign that he accepted her challenge? But why not just say yes? Was he really that afraid to speak?

Perhaps those questions could be answered later. But now, it was time for a spar.

"The first one who can get the other to surrender, is the winner. **Do not hold back**." She said the last sentence as clear as she could. This may not be a truly serious fight to the death, but she decided not to go easy, and neither should the other swordsman.

Ever since that fated encounter that night, she was disturbed deeply. The silent swordsman, and his crimson bladed sword. What was up with that? Did he paint the blade red on purpose? Or was there a more sinister reason?

He did not appear like a true fighter, yet his skills said otherwise. She had never seen such quick reflexes by anyone else, aside from a certain blue-haired sadistic monster. He had the look of a foreigner, and he probably **is**.

But how he was able to parry **all **of her attacks, and without seemingly much effort, it was grating to her. The thought that her swordsmanship is somehow still nowhere near perfect, despite all of the hardships she had faced her entire life, it was frustrating.

She needed to know her limits, and his abilities. She **needed **to know more about him, and perhaps even see through whatever disguise he put on himself. If he cannot explain himself through words, then perhaps his actions could speak better.

Moreover, Tatsumi was not in a condition to fight right now, and she doesn't really have anyone else to spar with. Which made her even more intent on going against the swordsman once more.

Akame unsheathed her sword, Murasame's blade glimmering under the sun. Kai responded the same, pulling out his own sword, its crimson blade... glowing?

"Hold on, Akame! Are you going to kill the new guy so early!?" Lubbock shouted from afar, slightly excited about watching two swordsmen duking it out, but also slightly worried for Kai since Akame's blade wasn't called the One-Cut Killer for nothing.

"Don't worry, I'll only aim for his clothes. If he can't dodge one of my strikes, it's my win. The same goes the other way around." She replied. Kai said nothing so far, instead he simply brought his sword closer to his body.

Akame focused her attention towards the silent swordsman's weapon. Something about it just screams supernatural. Is it an Imperial Arm? But she had never heard of, or even seen one like that before.

More and more questions. More mysteries to uncover. She hated mysteries.

Both swordsmen had their weapons drawn. The only thing separating them being the empty space between.

"Are you prepared?" Akame asked Kai one last time. She got her answer, in the form of silence.

Kai said nothing, he didn't feel the need to. However, he took a moment to pull his scarf as tight as possible around his neck, and pulled the front up to cover his mouth and nose.

Akame was curious about why he did that. Was he finally getting serious? Didn't matter, she'll find out soon anyway.

'So be it.'

She made the first move. He anticipated it.

**Clang**

Two blades clashed against one another. Akame's eyes remained fixated on Kai's. He still seemed as calm as ever. She wanted to look beneath that facade.

Within a split second, she disappeared from sight. He felt something from behind.

Another clash between metals, as Kai managed to block Akame's blade. She pulled her Murasame away, and swept her leg to bring him down. He jumped away.

She instantly dashed towards him, aiming for his neck. He dodged it, while kicking her blade away.

She was mildly stunned, but immediately recovered. Just in time to parry an incoming strike from the former.

The force of his blade was immense, it pushed her away slightly, and she nearly lost her footing. Feeling her feet touching the ground once more, she narrowly sidestepped another front kick from the silent swordsman.

Akame spun around, and aimed her blade at his feet. Kai responded by also spinning around in midair, and blocked Murasame with his sword.

He briefly regained his footing, and Akame struck again. Yet again, he blocked it.

**clang**

**clink**

**Clash**

Akame reverberating sounds of dancing blades echoed throughout the air. She kept changing positions, in an effort to disorient him. She never gave a single moment of pause, pushing him away with her sword.

Yet, for some reason, he still wouldn't falter. His eyes remained sharp, and his face...

She couldn't make out his face. She couldn't figure out whether he was struggling or being calm. It's because of the damn scarf. She'll have to admit, it was a brilliant tactic. Not letting the opponent see your expressions, so they couldn't know what you're thinking.

She dashed away, taking a moment to catch a breath. He wasn't going to allow it.

With inhuman speed, he thrusted his blade forwards, nearly touching a strand of her hair. She managed to jump away, and returned the favour. He pushed her blade away with his own.

Momentarily releasing his right grip, he delivered an elbow strike towards her face. She saw it coming, and pulled her head down.

She performed a backflip, pulling her leg upwards. He instantly blocked it with the back of his blade, forcing him to take a step back.

She took the opportunity to regain her stance and tried to reassess her strategy. It was clear that simply trying to outpace him offensively wasn't working.

He was fast. _Very _fast. No matter what, she couldn't find an opening to take advantage of. They have been fighting for over a minute, and yet she couldn't even scratch his clothes.

She had to trick him somehow. Create an opening herself, so she could land the final blow.

Meanwhile, Kai simply stood there, letting her have her precious seconds of peace. She gritted her teeth in contempt. He was holding back.

She's going to make sure he regretted doing so.

Leaping towards Kai in a split second, Akame lifted Murasame, aiming for his head. He responded by bringing up his own sword.

She was hoping he'd do that. Her move was a bait. She spun around, and kicked his hands sideways, causing Kai to release his grip for a while.

He took a step back. She stepped forwards. She thrusted Murasame, aiming for the side of his head, nearly cutting a piece of his hair. But he avoided it.

She saw him dodging her strike, and she wasn't letting him get away again. She swiped the blade horizontally. Kai forced his head down, and rolled to the ground.

She tried to swipe again, but Kai, in the midst of rolling away, had already called his sword back towards his palms, and successfully blocked another one of her strikes.

She clicked her tongue in frustration, once again failing to end the spar in her favor.

In an unexpected move, he spun his body around, and kicked her blade away with tremendous force, pushing her several feet away.

Once again, both swordsmen were separated, with only empty space between them.

Akame didn't realize it, but she was sweating. Moreover, she was infuriated. For once, she was no longer in control of her own emotions.

"Why aren't you giving it your all!? Why are you holding back!? I want to see what you're** capable** of!!"

Kai stood like a statue, unwavering. His golden stare continued to pierce through hers, but something was different about it. Before, his eyes were calm, like a soft breeze.

Now, it resembled a fiery storm, wild and terbulent.

She still couldn't his face, but she had a powerful feeling he wasn't very happy. Was it something she said?

The silent swordsman remained unmoving.

She heard a gust of wind.

And then he was gone.

Her eyes widened. That was all she could do.

**Swhooshh**

**CRRACKK**

**rustle**

She didn't move an inch, and his blade, was only an inch away from her head. Did he miss?

She could feel a strand of her hair falling off. He didn't miss. At least not unintentionally.

"Im... impossible."

That was the only word she could muster. Her mind was too scrambled to think of anything else.

She knew he was fast. But not like this. She couldn't even see it. For one moment, he was just...gone. And here he was.

Seconds pass by. But it felt like eons.

Kai drew his blade back, and slowly sheathed it. He pulled his scarf down, revealing his face once more. His eyes returned to their once dull look. He turned around, and walked into the forest.

Kai took a deep breath. He lost composure for a while. He couldn't let that happen again.

_"I want to see what you're** capable** of!"_

Bad memories. He swiftly repressed such thoughts. Now, it was time to hunt. Shinku needed more blood.

As the silent swordsman walked away, the other swordsman, remained like a statue

Akame was still standing in the same spot. Petrified.

Her entire life, she had strived to become the greatest. To become stronger than anyone else, so she could protect those she held dear, and put an end to those she opposed.

She thought there was only one person who could've best her in a straight duel to the death. General Esdeath herself. And all her life, she mentally prepared herself for the inevitable fight between them.

But now, she felt the need to rethink everything.

"Akame!!"

A worried voice brought her back to reality. She was greeted by Mine's concerned face, along with the rest of Night Raid behind her.

"Akame, you alright? You seemed pale like a ghost." Bulat pointed out.

"I'm...fine."

"That..wasn't very convincing." Lubbock interjected.

"I said I'm fine." She wasn't. Of course not. But she could still pretend.

"So, I guess you...lost, huh?" Bulat stated the obvious.

"Eh? She lost? I thought Kai missed?" Sheele was still catching up to what happened, but her sentence caught Akame's attention.

Kai missed her on purpose. Then what did he hit?

Turning around, the haunting visage rendered her completely awestruck.

A single large tree right behind her, was completely ripped apart. Its trunk completely shattered to pieces, the only thing remaining of the tree, was a torn tree stump. The parts of the tree which was horribly deformed, also seemed to be covered in...blood?

Where did it come from? The _sword_ itself?

But that level of destruction...and it was just a _single _thrust. The tree was _metres_ away. It wasn't even a direct contact.

She couldn't imagine how she could've fared any better...if _she _was the target. Such **power**. It was terrifying.

"Good thing he **held back**, huh?" Lubbock said quietly, also disturbed by the tree's fate. In fact, everyone was.

"Hey guys! What's up- **woah. **Uhh..who...did that?" Leone, who had just returned from catching some lunch for herself, was obviously late to the party.

Unknown to the rest of Night Raid, their leader had been watching the spar from an open window back in their base.

Najenda was distraught. It was clear that one of their new members, was an Imperial Arms user. No other weapon could possess such level of power.

Obviously, having such a powerful warrior as an ally would be advantageous to their cause, but Kai is once again, an unknown variable. No one knew who he is, where he came from, or if "Kai" is even his real name.

Trust is a valuable commodity. Moreover, it's a powerful one. Kai, so far had proven to be of worth little to none in that regard.

He was an anomaly, and a dangerous one. His inclusion would possibly turn the tides in this war.

The only problem right now is, she wasn't sure if it would be in **their **favor.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**In**** case you're wondering, NO I'm not dead. Just braindead, probably.**

**So,**** uhh...yeah.. it's been a while, hasn't it****?** **I'm**** sorry. This update took, _ages _to finally come. I didn't plan for this to happen, but some personal stuff got in the way and gave me a writer's block, and then I just forgot all about my fanfics. It's shameful to admit it, but sometimes we don't get the free time we needed.**

**For**** those of you who had been following since the beginning, thank you for being patient. I didn't plan it to take this long, but again, real life got in the way. Writer's block can be a ****real bitch**.

**I have**** mentioned before in this fic, but if I haven't, I'll inform you: I'm_ not_ a fully dedicated writer. I do not have a set schedule on when to write and update my stories. And sometimes, I couldn't even write anything because my mind decided to betray me. So I apologize if the next update would take weeks, or even months, or god forbid, YEARS. I couldn't imagine being gone for that long, and hopefully, I wouldn't have to.**

**No****, I will NOT abandon this story, or any of my other ones. It just...takes a while for me to get going. And sometimes, you just don't have the time to do what you want, as much as you wanted to.**

**Thank**** you for reading. Until next time.**


End file.
